


A Guard´s life

by Lucario



Category: Dayshift At Freddy's, Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Actually has plot, At least I tried, Canon gets annihilated, Dayshift and Rebornica elements, Everyone is a little evil, First long Story, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Mike tries to help the kids, Partly a little dark, People probably die, Takes place after radical ending (DaF2)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 14:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 250,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12234942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucario/pseuds/Lucario
Summary: The (mis)adventures of three guards, two Zombies and about hundred dead kids.Most of the personalities are inspired by rebornica, Old Sport, Dave and Phoney belong to directdoggo (check out his games... especially the second one!)





	1. Heya there!

Before I let you read the story I would like to inform you of some things… of course you can always skip it, but it might be useful information for you.  
By the way… thank you to freegirl333, the only one who was so kind to comment on my first work! I hope I manage to keep on entertaining you! 

First the technical problems:  
\- I´m from Germany, so I don´t really know how to write slang. Dave´s loveable New Yorker accent and Foxy´s pirate slang will probably be severely butchered.  
\- I have no beta reader (since I have no friends) and I have only an ancient spelling control program (from 2003 I think…) and even though I reread my stories multiple times, I will most likely make mistakes. Point them out to me, especially if I repeat them often and I will correct and avoid them in the future!  
\- Never written a long story before and if you expect well-crafted character-arks and careful planned storylines, then I´m sorry, but I´m going after my gut feeling.  
Feel free to help and correct me though! Advice is always welcome for a n00b like me. 

Story things:  
\- The universe is basically a mixture out of what I gathered from the few Rebornica comics that still float around the web and from the Dayshift at Freddy´s setting (made by directdoggo) that I hold very dear and everything I think would make for a good head-canon. Of course I will most likely not be able to imitate their versions of the character, but I will still give my best making them as enjoyable as possible to follow along.  
\- For everyone who is here for Dave/Old Sport… He won´t appear until after chapter six or later, BUT, for you guys I made a smaller story called “Thirty years and still the same”, which ONLY focuses on them, I hope that keeps you satisfied for now.  
\- On the topic of Old Sport: His Dayshift at Freddy´s ending was the sprinlocked one, his Dayshift at Freddy´s 2 ending was the radical ending. Now you know what to expect of this version of him. :3  
\- Some of the chapters/events are in my one-shot series “Phone Guy´s Pizzeria” and I strongly encourage you to read it first, because it will tell you what to expect of the writing and story style, as well as giving you a feeling if I will get the characters right, like you expect them to be, or if I´ll fuck them up entirely. 

Last, but not least:  
\- I will update at least all two weeks and inform you if otherwise.  
\- If you have ideas on situation the Guards and Animatronics could find themselves in, message me and I take it into consideration, it will help me out greatly if I run out of ideas… ^^”  
\- COMMENT. If you like something, tell me what! If you hate something, tell me why!  
Positive comments will motivate me to write more and especially more of what you like!  
Negative comments will make me be more careful and thorough, avoiding the mistake that I made.  
It´s honestly important to me, since I´m terrible at judging my work and the work of others… 

AND OF COURSE… ENJOY THE SHOW!


	2. Where it started (and other uncreative titels)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vincent wants someone new to play with, Phone Guy breaks down and grants his wish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A slow and kind of gloomy start… I promise you the next few will be funnier!  
> By the way, the chapter that would come before this one, the “True Start” (if you´d like to call it that way) would be chapter two of Phone Guy´s Pizzeria. I would recommend reading it, since it explains how Mike got the nightshift.

“You know you need him.”  
All Phone Guy wanted was a short break, while the animatronics took over. Nothing but a minute to sit down and ignore Vincent.  
But Vincent was never one to let himself be ignored.  
“It´s a joke, for you to act like you can handle this…” The Purple Guy waved his hand at the huge crowd of people, gathered around the singing animatronics. “Hell, you can´t even handle me alone! Why are you so stubborn?”  
The Phone-headed man stayed silent, praying for Vincent to leave him alone. His own demons were enough to fight against, he didn´t need another one encouraging them.  
Unfortunately, the cruel man kept on speaking.  
“Not even you can be at two places at once… someday you´re going to slip up. One mistake will be enough… then it´s back to the factory for you.” His smile was unnerving. Usually his face glowed of unreasonable excitement and mischievous ideas and yes, it was scary, but seeing the probable psychopath that calm and reasonable was even more haunting. It reminded him about the real danger, hiding behind that overly cartoonish façade.  
“It isn´t THAT hard to get another Night Guard… and you´ve seen the guy. How determent he is. For fuck´s sake, the fact that he is alive should be enough to earn him the promotion! That and the fact that there´s nothing that get´s me… calmer… than seeing a new face. Someone to show around.”  
“He isn´t Old Sport.”  
With that, Vincent´s face shortly dropped, obviously not expecting Phone Guy of all people to hit that sore wound of his. Slightly bolder, PG immediately tried to finish the conversation of via dismissive comments.  
“And he won´t ever be. I know what you´re hoping for, but it won´t ever happen. You´re… different and we all can see that. You´re fake and we can feel it. Whatever you did to Old Sport won´t ever work on anyone else. Just quit trying to get a new… playmate.”  
He had already turned around, when the aubergine man started his rebottle. “I know that, you daft bastard! Did I ever imply that I believe he would become my fucking buddy? No. Honestly, I´m worried as shit about you, Phoney. You´re trembling! Everyone can see it! You´re anxious, because you know that your luck is running thin. One second, one small daydream and you are dead. The robots gonna blow up, or I sneak in some cocaine and BOOM. You´re done. This makes you sick Phoney…”  
Slowly he crept closer; eying his boss like a snake would a rabbit.  
“The Night Guard hates everything… but he appears to follow orders and is able to deal with trauma. Fuck, the day after you vanished for a while, I found him ripping open all the spare-suits heads, mumbling something about staying alive. It was rather sweet. So, what could go wrong if you do it? Many things, yes. But… what could wrong if you don´t? Well…” His words trailed off into quiet laughter.  
In this moment, Phoney hated Vincent with every inch of his being. How could that asshole pretend to be a childish idiot, despite making obvious threats and cruel remarks? How could he prey on all his fears so easily, without even hiding that he was doing it AND STILL have the audacity to act like he only cared about his wellbeing?  
Why would he never stop scraping away his nerves, never give him the smallest amount of peace?  
Maybe he just hated him so much.  
What could he possibly gain from another Guard in the facility?  
The answer was simple, ridiculously simple.  
Entertainment.  
Entertainment in torturing a new victim, playing pretend until the time to strike was right. It wasn´t fair, pretending to promote the Guy out of the animatronic hell, just to directly drop him into this far crueler place.  
But since when did he care about being fair?  
He felt his body grow numb, as his mind started spinning. If he was cruel enough to hire desperate humans into certain death, just to keep this place alive, then why not using the cannon fodder to rid himself of Vincent for a while? Not like it would end in a different way.  
Desperately he gave his best to ignore the nausea in his stomach and to forget that he was exchanging the happiness of a poor guy…  
…  
Oh, right. Mike already worked at Freddy´s. There wasn´t much to ruin anyway.  
“You know what, Vincent? You got me. I´ll do it. Hope you´re going to be satisfied.”  
In a spilt second, the other Guard´s face changed from superior smile to ecstatic grin, an expression he was weirdly far more comfortable seeing.  
“Oh fuck yeah boss, you´re the best dad I ever had!”  
“Excuse me?!”  
There it was again, the old game of confusion and strangeness.  
Was the purple Guard doing it intentional? Or was he that ignorant?  
Whatever it was, if Phone Guy told him, he probably wouldn´t even care.  
“Btw, pls give me a pony on x-mas.”  
“W-what are you even saying? The h-heck means btw? A-and pls?! Did you mean please-?”  
Already he was gone, leaving only the standard feeling of slight dread behind. Phone Guy went to his office, knowing his next phone call would contain more lies then every call before combined.  
Would he even be mad if the Night Guard started to hate him as well?  
No.  
He would only smile, smile with a face that wasn´t there; empathizing with a heart that didn´t beat.  
In a way he missed Old Sport just as much as Vincent. He couldn´t remember much, but he knew that IF someone would free him from this painful existence, it would be that soulless…  
…  
Phone Guy wasn´t delusional and knew that the Orange Guy was still at least partly human, but something in him feared that insulting him would somehow summon him… and calling him nothing but human felt plain wrong.  
Heh, that was silly.  
Just as silly as feeling a sad sense of pride in knowing that there was someone out there who ACTUALLY cared that he was alive and wanted to kill him so badly, he´d do it in front of hundreds of witnesses.  
Quickly he shook off those depressive thoughts; trying to get back into his cheery, lying persona.  
Be as cheery as the robots.  
Don´t let them see the stains on your body.  
“Hello? Hello, Hello! I´m recording this message right before your shift, since I´m too busy to call you at night… yeah, I´m sorry about that. Please don´t get too mad, we´ve got the other endoskeletons out of order for a while, so don´t worry about them. What I´m actually here to tell you, and believe me if I say that I´m happy to be able to tell you that…”  
Shortly he coughed, almost barfing at his massive lie.  
“… You´re getting a promotion! How does Dayshift at Freddy´s sound? Not bad, eh? Pretty exciting stuff, I know… but keep focused on the robots for now, alright? Don´t want you… getting distracted in the wrong moment! A… an injured person can´t get a promotion after all! Even though we deactivated some, remember that you´re now on your own against them. Still, I´m so glad to get you out of there soon. You did a great job and it would be a waste, if your talents would be only used to distract some pesky machines, right?”  
Talents. Talents like staying alive and having no one to ask why you´re shaking and crying every evening, staring at doors that you fear would all of a sudden open against your will.  
Yes, it was one of the more important checkpoints on the hiring requirements that the Guard wouldn´t have any family and friends at close vicinity.  
Shortly he remembered their “job interview”. When the so called Mike Schmidt started to spit out profanities against someone he only knew for two minutes, Phone Guy never expected that the same person would listen to his pleas and try to get him out of certain death.  
“And by the way… thank you for checking the suits. Really… it means a lot to me. I don´t remember what happened and why I am still alive, but I think in some other universe (if you believe in that) you saved my life. You´re a hero Mike. And we desperately need those.”  
We need them to distract the villains. Sorry, this won´t have a happy ending. Not with that many enemies to fight.  
“Er-hem…” Awkwardly he straightened his collar. Even for his standards were his words too manipulative. “So, do your shift, go home and rest up, then come here around… four o´clock. We´re gonna show you the ropes.”  
The click that signaled the end of the call was louder than expected. He jumped a little, scared of the karma that would haunt him soon. 

On the next day Mike actually entered the establishment, erasing the last bit of hope in Phone Guy´s soul that the poor guy would save himself.  
Vincent, giddy and jumpy like a school girl, darted over, basically jumping his sacrifice. “Hello there, Old Guard! So you´re here! You´re a true madman! I´m Vincent, if you forgot that already, but you can call me big dick D- Fuck, that doesn´t work anymore… call me vagina vaporizer Vincent!”  
“No way in fucking hell.”  
Obviously unimpressed with this greeting the Guy shoved him away and walked directly towards PG, who only thought about running away for a split second.  
“I´m fucking here. Why the fuck is this place such a hellhole?”  
The guilt started fading after those words. Freddy´s was his pride after all! The fake warmth in his voice and positive body-language felt almost natural now.  
“I´m sure you will learn to love it in no time! Come along now, the tour can start! Do you want a full tour, or just the basics?”  
“Can I just skip the shit and go straight to screaming at toddlers?”  
“Yeah Phoney, let poor Mikey have some fun!”  
Already Phone Guy saw them plotting against him. It was unnerving how close Vincent could get to people, without them noticing or caring.  
Mike shot Vincent an angered glance. “Fuck off aubergine face, no one asked you. If you ever call me that again, I´m going to inject cancer into your bloodstream.”  
Shortly PG felt relieved, almost smirked, while Vincent turned his head, his expression frozen solid. “I´m just trying to help, buddy. Better not make unnecessary… obstacles for yourself!” Good-natured he laughed and showed every single tooth. Well, not like that was unusual for him.  
“Fuck off with your bullshit. Are you trying to threaten me? Honestly? I will have no remorse, once I start fucking your life up.”  
“I finally found my soulmate!” Purple Guy jumped towards him, maybe to hug or to strangle him (with Vincent you never could be sure), but once more unimpressed the new Guard stepped out of the way, letting his opponent crash into the floor.  
Yes, Vincent was quite right in his assessment that a new Guy would be a fresh breath of air. But Phone Guy had work to do and needed to ensure that Mike would be able to handle a few things.  
“I have to get going. Mike, if you have questions you can summon me in the office. Keep an eye on the animatronics, make sure no one tries to poison the customers and we will be just dandy!”  
“Wait, poison-?”  
“See you later!” Quickly PG fled the situation.  
Mike turned around to his new co-worker, who still hadn´t stood up yet. Maybe he was imitating a bug; maybe he was having a stroke.  
Well, whatever, Mike didn´t care. “Who the fuck would try to poison our customers?”  
Smiling Vincent looked up to him. “Oh, you know… Candy´s Burgers and Fries, the mutated rats under the kitchen counter, demons from the sixth dimension that I accidently pissed off by roasting their leader… standard stuff. In my last joint THAT was exciting! We had a whole interdimensional space-war against beings out of rubber! Here you can be happy when you see a fucking self-aware lamp. It became quieter for Freddy´s lately.”  
“Alright, what fucking pills are you taking and in which order? I think I could use some of that too.”  
Vincent only shot him a strange look and returned to watch the ceiling. “Well, you´re gonna see when it´s time. By the way, how about checking up on the robot? Ya know, making sure nobody is yiffing the fox?”  
“It´s the middle of the day, there´s no way in hell-”  
There was a loud crash, glass splintered and a loud screeching was audible through the halls. “OH FOXY, TAKE ME! TAKE ME TO YOUR COVE OF PLEASURE! MY BOOTY IS ALL YOURS!”  
The unintelligible YAring of the hopefully not-yet-fucked-fox followed and Vincent and Mike exchanged a glance.  
Unrealistically loud tearing of clothes was to be heard and high-pitched screaming, maybe of kids who were catching on that this wasn´t normal for pirates. Wait. That kind of shit was usual for pirates, wasn´t it? I mean, they were the perpetrator in most cases, but still…  
Or was he thinking about Vikings?  
Shit, now he would need to google if Pirates were rapist and feel like some NSA dude would laugh his ass off behind his back.  
Even though the NSA was probably not watching him constantly and rather keep their focus on high-profile politicians and information-leakers that would threaten the power structures of…  
“OOOOooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOHhh FOOOOOOOOXYYYYYYYYYY!”  
He realized that right now he had a bigger problem and tried to get any kind of signal from Vincent about what to do.  
Finally the aubergine guy got back up and yawned.  
“You´re the newbie, so Imma take care of this today. Don´t get used to it though~” He winked at Mike, who got the feeling that he was supposed to get a mixed message, despite not getting any kind of message at all.  
With the other one gone, Mike had for the first time the opportunity to check his surroundings. Nothing much was happening, people ate pizza, kids were running around and screaming against the rules, the lamps were glowing, the animatronics were singing, nothing really dangerous.  
Curious Mike crept closer, somewhat fascinated with the concept of the machines being what they were supposed to be.  
Instantly it felt like he was small again, behind him his laughing parents singing along to the song and patting his head. Happiness flooded his being, as he watched the robots laughing and joking in the short solos breaks, like a group of kids who started a band, it felt like the happiest day…  
Just that it never happened. His parents wouldn´t be here. He never saw other kids interact like that when he was younger. And even if, the machines shouldn´t be able to act like that.  
This was all fake.  
Something was manipulating his head.  
Aggressive he turned around, uselessly trying to make out who the culprit could be, but all he saw was amazed faces of people who were enticed by the act the animatronics were playing out.  
Mike felt sick and left the crowd to itself, not wanting to spend another minute around this lying bunch of monsters.  
As he returned to the main hall, with quite the distance to the customers, he considered his options. There was nothing to actually DO as far as he saw.  
Or at least nothing he knew of.  
Shortly Mike considered looking for his chaotic co-worker, but quickly got back to his senses, after all he didn´t want to get even more scarred by whatever happened over there. The silence from the pirate cove was PROBABLY a good sign… or maybe it just meant that everyone died there. Honestly, he wouldn´t be surprised.  
Restless the new Guard started to wander around. Somehow the place was ridiculously different at daytime, despite being the same building.  
Was there always an arcade? And these tables… were they placed like this before? Was he paranoid, crazy or did he just never paid attention?  
Heh, not like he could have paid ANY-FUCKING-THING with his minimum wage.  
After a while the prize corner caught his eyes. Of course it did, after all it was filled with eye-bleeding neon colors and spinning… things.  
The employee behind the counter was leaning casually on it, not having to deal with any kids in the moment. His body language gave a relaxed impression, making Mike assume that he probably worked there for a while now.  
Trying to not come off as creepy or lonely, Mike walked over and tried to start an innocent conversation.  
“So… this is the prize corner, huh? Pretty… big.”  
Of course this was the prize-fucking-corner, why the fuck did he even say that?! What other place in this WHOLE FUCKING RESTAURANT HAD USLESS ITEMS IN TOKENS FOR SALE?  
The salesman didn´t appear that annoyed luckily.  
“Yeah, we have quite the selection. Want something? I´m Matt by the way.”  
In the moment that it took for Mike to take a look at the wares it went silent, silent enough for distant gunshots to be audible. Irritated he turned around.  
“Did… you hear that? Were that gunshots?”  
“YES.”  
“Shouldn´t we be worried?”  
“No.”  
Either it was his mind bending around the nonsensical answer, or it was reality being torn apart, something felt disturbingly wrong about the man and Mike regretted slightly that he started the conversation in the first place.  
In an attempt to change the subject, Mike inspected the items behind the counter. Pencil topper, Plushies of different brands, candy in form of the animatronics, those stupid plastic pieces of shit that never did what they were supposed to do, cheap clocks, batteries, gasoline, a lighter, cigarettes, booze…  
Thankfully his brain was already on stand-by, otherwise he might would have gotten freaked out.  
“So, I can go and play on the arcade all day, then come back here to burn down the fucking restaurant? Awesome!”  
“If you want to…? Be careful that the boss doesn´t get you though. And if someone asks, you didn´t got anything from me.”  
“Who the fuck would even ask?! They can just take one fucking look at this store and fucking arrest everyone in the building.”  
Shortly the guy laughed and it was even more uncomfortable than being the victim of his constant plastic smile. Everyone in this restaurant had a fucking psycho smile. WHY?  
Well, luckily (or not), Matt´s smile was more one of a sexual predator than one of someone who would murder you in your sleep.  
But on the other hand, Mike would feel more comfortable with the aspect of being killed by Vincent in the middle of the night than being kidnapped by Matt in the middle of the night, since an eternity inside a sex dungeon was probably real hell.  
The man shook his head, still amused. “You should visit the kitchen. The prize corner is literally harmless against that.”  
Mike made a mental note not to ever get anywhere near the kitchen. There was most likely a biochemical weapon being tested inside there and knowing his luck, he would end up as a test subject.  
“HEY THERE, OLD GUARD!” Vincent screamed through the whole establishment, reminding Mike of those awkward kids who just turned into teenagers, but still acted like eight. Mommy, mommy, look at what I can!  
Annoyed he glanced at the odd guy, hiding his relief that he would get away from Matt with that.  
“The fuck do you want? Is Foxy literally fucked now, or did you do your job?”  
“Meh, don´t worry, the fox is fine.”  
“Fax?”  
“Yes, the fox.”  
“No, you´re saying fax…” His words trailed off, this wasn´t going anywhere. “Whatever. What the fuck are you wearing and is that even legal?”  
Vincent now towered before him, his height increased through the suit he had climbed into. It was a golden Bonnie, hilariously unoriginal and stupid. The good thing was: he wouldn´t need to see Vincent´s punchable face anymore and he appeared trapped and slowed; only his eyes glowed through the holes.  
Something itched in the back of Mikes head.  
“Wait. Isn´t this shit deadly? You know, I was told that, if I ever got stuck in one of them, I would die a horrible death and my corpse would be unidentifiable.”  
“Yes, so? Old Guard, they´re still gonna force you to wear these costumes to entertain the toddlers. They don´t care about your “mild discomfort-slash-death”. Suck it up boi, the stock-photo-kiddens wanna have some fun!”  
“The stock-photo… what?! What the fuck? Is the management made out of psychopaths?!”  
“I dunno, but Phoney kinda looks like a psycho to me.”  
“Well, I don´t think… I mean, he worked the nightshift, right? He knows how dangerous the robots and the suits are, doesn´t he? He wasn´t the one to tell you to wear the suit…”  
In a mixture of amusement and sympathy the Purple Guy smiled at him. “Come on. What do you think? Of course he did! He was told to do it, after all. Take one good look at me. I´m a Guard, Mike. I´m supposed to keep the kids around here safe. And they fucking force me into this piece of shit, expecting me to be a fucking entertainer, as well as being quick to jump in if something goes south, without getting impaled by fucking metal pieces. They don´t CARE. But that´s fine. You know why? Because we are free. We can do what we want.”  
“They can´t know about all this shit! How can anyone -”  
“Listen. This place here… it´s hell. But it can be heaven, for the right kind of people. Just… take a good look at the children here. That´s their heaven. And Phoney! It´s his heaven as well! Basically it´s just a matter of perspective and what you do with the infinitive opportunities this place gives you. And people who know of this, of US, they tend to close their eyes… for a good reason. Think about it for a minute!”  
He came closer, his eyes glowing like dying stars.  
“What would happen if this place closed down? Where would people like us go? People who are… more free in their thoughts, less likely to do what society wants? People who don´t care about ANYTHING. We´d be a liability. So they leave us tiny places that no one truly cares about, in hopes that we destroy each other in the process, like our nature dictates. Everyone who works here is outcast, Mike. Even you. You and I aren´t that different in the eyes of the outsiders! Both of us have to be locked away, to be forgotten. Just like we aren´t part of their world! As long as they don´t see the feasting maggots under their own skin, they ignore them and live in bliss.”  
Mike felt rarely terrified, at least not at this level, but the way his counterpart leaned forward, the way you couldn´t see, but FEEL his manic grin, the way he rambled on akin to a paranoid lunatic made him feel sick to the core.  
“You understand it, Mike, I see it in your eyes! You get that we have to stop it! Together we CAN change fate! It is our OBLIGATION to show them how wrong they are in thinking of US as the broken ones! Instead, let´s teach them about the JOY OF CREA-”  
“SHUT UP!” Mike couldn´t take it anymore. He needed to get out. “SHUT THE FUCK UP! You don´t even make any sense anymore! J-just go away. I don´t care anymore. I actually don´t. Go and do your fucking job, so I can do mine.”  
Sprinting he headed for the backroom, hoping that the silence would get him back on track.  
His whole body was shivering and he didn´t know why. Everything felt cold; except his head, which was burning.  
Breathing steadily, Mike tried to collect his thoughts. There wasn´t anything objectively bad about what his co-worker had said. No threats, no hate towards him. It was just rambling, incoherent sentences, about possible reasons why no one cared about the chaos at Freddy´s.  
It was a conspiracy theory, without any merit behind it. Right?  
The dark room was quiet; no sound came through the firmly shut doors.  
No, he only overreacted. Vincent most likely just wanted to mind fuck him and did so as convincingly as possible.  
Fuck, he was an idiot. There was nothing wrong.  
Yeah, maybe the robots went insane at night, but there was an explanation after all…  
Phone Guy´s head was probably nothing but an unlucky accident, tied to the discoveries made about the ability of mental to preserve a person´s “soul”.  
Matt seemed abnormal, but maybe he was bored like Vincent and made his day more interesting by fucking with new employees. It was easy to grin like a pervert after all and gunshot could be simulated or played of the internet.  
And Vincent? In the light of all the other people who worked at Freddy´s he was most likely just a bit more extreme, used to people who understood his humor.  
Mike tried to chuckle, but only a dry cough came out.  
How likely was it, that he just met a real psycho? Slim to none, obviously. What kind of lunatic would work at a restaurant, of all places? They would use their ability and lack of conscious to get into higher ranks, fulfilling their need for self-validation.  
At least that was what the article said he had read a while ago, bored at the doctor´s office.  
It all was nothing, but a joke on his expense. Everyone was laughing their ass off outside, surely.  
The shadows on the wall just moved.  
Or did he imagine that?  
Was someone here?  
It was so cold.  
Why was it so cold?  
He reached for his pockets while turning around.  
The shadows moved and they… whispered.  
A golden Freddy suit lay on the ground, staring at him.  
Thinking. It was thinking about something.  
No.  
No, NO, NO! This wasn´t real. This was a joke his head was playing.  
Just a bad joke, harmless fun, without any real effect.  
When he entered the restaurant he had hoped not to be this weak. That he was stable, that he wasn´t that easily set off anymore.  
With shaking hands he opened the bottle, taking out three pills, but quickly putting one back in. He swallowed them without water, since a long time used to it.  
After a few minutes, the room returned to being nothing than a filthy backspace for old suits and the private belongings of the employees. Hell, it even became brighter, now that his eyes weren´t narrowed by his little hysterical fit.  
It was slightly surprising to him that no one had checked on him yet.  
\- We can do what we want. -  
In some things Vincent had said laid a grain of truth. It was quite comfortable not to worry about censoring his cussing, always being able to say: “Well, I swear, but at least I don´t sell kids cigarettes” or “Yeah, I´m gonna learn to control myself, right after the robots stop literally killing people.”  
A small smile made his way on his face and already Mike felt his normal self coming back, screaming about how much of an idiot he was. Ah, it was a relief feeling normal for the first time of his life.  
He left the saferoom half expecting to be fired for something that happened while he was absent, but everyone seemed fine, kids gathering around Vincent and the animatronics, who were doing a stage play or something.  
Shortly he checked the clock. Almost six, so the hard part of the shift was already over and not ONCE was he in mortal danger. Maybe he could get used to this, after growing a thicker skin against his co-workers jokes.  
It couldn´t be hard getting used to this life.  
With a confident smile and straight back he left the saferoom, acting like he just slacked off. Grinning he jokingly saluted Matt in the distance and leaned against the wall, next to an unused table where nothing but a lamp and merchandise was placed on.  
“The only thing we can know with certainty is that we can´t know anything.”  
Mike´s smile didn´t falter as he pushed the lamp of the table. He wasn´t paid enough to deal with talking objects and their existential crisis.  
Nope, he would go home in an hour and enjoy twenty hours of sleep.  
And not think about Vincent and the others.  
Not think about murder robots.  
Not think about pills.  
And especially not think about lamps.  
Fuck everything. He would need to stack his pills again if this shit continues. FUCK.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Thanks for reading and have a nice day :3


	3. New messages!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a test run of the new Toy-Animatronics, the restaurant stays closed for a day. The employees are still forced to come to keep an eye on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven´t got any responses yet... seriously, tell me what you think, good or bad, I NEED THAT.  
> A little more cheery in my opinion, but well, can´t help myself with the darker elements ^^  
> I hope you enjoy!

“MIKE, MIKE! Guess what Phoney forgot to do today!” Excited Vincent jumped at the guard, who was bored beyond belief due to the lack of customers today. Why make a big deal of the arrival of the Toy-Animatronics? They were the same as the old ones, just some stupid glitter sprayed on top.  
Mike almost felt relieved, having something to worry about.  
It might was interesting to stare at the newly activated Toy-Animatronics, for the first hour or so, but it got old fairly quickly. They acted just as random as their older counterparts.  
“What? Did he forgot to renew your contract? Spoiler; that was fucking intentional.”  
“No, what are you talking about?! He forgot to close away the recordings! We could rerecord some messages for the future night guard!”  
“You mean, we could tell him to save his own life and leave?”  
“If you´re boring… we could troll him!”  
“That would literally kill the shit out of him.”  
“EXACTLY!”  
Slightly uneasy Mike turned away from the cold-hearted co-worker. “No. But we could still make it “funny”, whatever your definition of fun is.”  
They entered the office, the tapes were scattered on the table. All were signed with the current day. Curious both activated them and listened to the hundred of euphemism and lies that PG spewed.  
“Yeah, you´re right, we should fucking correct that shit. The new guy would be dead in the first five minutes.”  
“Good thing we´re here, eh?” He winked at his companion and inserted the tapes back into the recording device.  
“Can´t we just talk over this shit?”  
“Maybe… let´s try it out!”  
“Alright, press start… now!” Mike shortly coughed and started talking. “Hey there, idiot who takes a job for minimum wage! I´m your fucking guide. Everything in this restaurant is trying to kill you, including the fucking fan on your desk. But they can´t get through the doors, so…”  
“Mikey, the doors aren´t functional since the renovations.”  
“ARE THEY CRAZY?! DUDE, RUN OR YOU´RE DEAD!”  
“Don´t worry, your old pal got another idea… next to the fact that the doors to outside are always locked, from said OUTSIDE. You just need something sharp and cut yourself! They´ll run away as soon as they smell blood.”  
“What? Why? And why do you know that?”  
“Oh… you know, I cut myself quite often on the robot parts, while repairing them and they always freak out about that.”  
Skeptical Mike gave him a short glance, but moved on.  
“You´ve heard my assistant here-”  
“Assistant?! Excuse me?! This was my idea!”  
“- you can just go ahead and- wait, how do they stuff people into suits, if they can´t smell blood?!”  
“That´s a completely different story.”  
“NO! NO, no, nope, don´t listen to this fuckhead, don´t cut yourself! Knowing him, it will probably lure them right to your location!”  
“I´m not that mean! By the way, you could always use the mask in your office to hide from them. They only scan your face.”  
“WHAT? WHY DID I NEVER GET ONE BEFORE?”  
“Phoney secretly thinks you´re a dick and wants you to die.”  
“THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT-”  
“Woah, calm yourself! I was only joking, the mask was newly made to deal with the lack of doors.”  
“I actually hate you, Vincent.”  
“Ah, you know I love you ten times more. He´s my loving boyfriend and we´re-”  
“DON´T LISTEN TO HIM. He´s trying to distract you and getting you killed! By now, you might want to check on Foxy, since he´s a huge cunt and always attacks when ignored.”  
“Your torch would probably help keeping him at bay. Or taking your clothes off. As long as you flash him, you´re in the clear.”  
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”  
“No, he actually made some traumatizing memories, because of all the furries…”  
“Oh… right. I remember now.”  
“If you stay for two more weeks, you´ll see that it only gets worse.”  
“Whatever… are you still alive over there? If yes, you´re in the clear! It´s the same thing for the next five hours or something.”  
“Not so fast, kiddo! Did you take care of the music box? If it doesn´t get winded up regularly, a demon comes out and cut off your balls. I´ve SEEN it. It´s not pretty.”  
“How did you survive that and kept your balls intact? It´s obvious you still have them, since YOU`RE FUCKING MOLESTING ME EVERY DAY!”  
“Well, can´t resist your sexy-”  
“SHUT. THE FUCK. UP. Let´s continue. So… box… music box. Wind it. Foxy will try to jump in your face, but you´ve got your torch and for the rest you just keep on the mask. How did PG made five fucking calls, we´re already done with every information we could give you.”  
“You know, he calls probably just because he´s lonely.”  
“FUCK THAT. LISTEN UP, BOI! If the animatronics get you, scream in their face and use a baseball bat to punch them over the head.”  
“Just tell ´em you know how to strangle toddlers! That will keep them away!”  
“WHAT?”  
“Hey, I´m just trying to keep someone alive!”  
“But, how the fuck!?”  
“You wanted to hear how I survived the puppet-man´s rising?”  
“No- I mean yes! But stop distracting from-”  
“So, the whole place was CROWDED. Literally, kids and adults and zombies EVERYWHERE. You can´t walk ONE step. The other Guard leaves, I think he´s on the way to the box to wind it, BUT NO, THAT IDIOT GOES TO TAKE A LEAK. Five minutes later, this cursed music is playing, Phoney freaks out and everyone is confused. I, as the smart guy in the situation, quickly go to the saferoom to get the suit off. Believe me when I say that you don´t want to face that thing in a suit that tries to kill you as well.”  
“The suits are-?”  
“So, I´m sneaking along, the first customers start to scream and that idiot that just pissed gets ripped into the air like a fucking Paper Pal and his pants get torn of, as the puppet-”  
“THAT´S ENOUGH. THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORY.”  
“Aw, I just was getting to the good stuff…”  
“NO ONE wants to hear that. Stop.”  
“Little bitch, can´t even take-”  
“Did you just call me a bitch, you cocksucking piece of cancer? FIGHT ME!”  
“What´s wrong with Co-”  
“NO. I don´t want to hear ONE MORE WORD from you.”  
“Just because I-”  
“You know what we should fucking do? We should punch the living shit out of each other. At least that´s what I´d like to fucking do about now.”  
“Some good old fashioned fist fighting?”  
“If I can kill you after I punched you enough.”  
“Maybe we should stop the recording before one of us commits murder? Evidence?”  
“Yeah, that poor guy is probably dead by now. FUCK IT.”  
They ended the tape and put it back on the table. After that, a staring contest commenced.  
“C´mon Mikey, don´t look at me like that. Why are you so angry?” Smiling Vincent moved closer, trying to tickle the annoyed Guard, who of course kept him at arms length.  
“That´s just how I am. I don´t have to fucking justify myself.”  
“But you´re so moody… are you on your period?” The punch he got was totally worth it.  
“One more and I will leave some FUCKING MARKS.”  
“Oh yes, senpai, mark me~”  
Immediately Mike backed off, slightly disturbed. “Stop that. You make me want to skin myself.”  
Vincent amused grinned and took the next tape.  
“Let´s tell the new Guy in the second night something about the robots, now that he knows how to AH-AH-AH-AH stayin´ alive.”  
“WHY. WHY did you do that…”  
Without reacting to Mike´s obvious cringe, Purple Guy got the next tape and popped it into the recorder.  
“Heya, survivor! Good that you´re alive and well! So, this night I tell you about the animatronics and the way they act. I´ve known all of them for years now, so you can trust me. Both Bunnies are quick to judge. Don´t bring your porn, he will look at you weird the WHOLE NEXT MONTH.”  
“The fuck are you talking about?”  
“The fat bear is actually intelligent and will try sneak as much as possible, so you won´t know when he is coming. The fat plastic bear on the other hand is an idiot and attention-seeking, so you´ll know ALWAYS he is coming. You won´t believe what an arrogant idiot the kid was…”  
“What kid?”  
“The Chicken only looks terrifying. She can be chased away easily, just scream in her face. Or smack away her cupcake, she´s far too focused on keeping her appearance on point. Probably because she has seen what happened to the trashpile, who never cared to look prestige.  
“What´s actually up with the fucking trashpile? Is it a boy or a girl?”  
“Well, depends on where you stick your dick.”  
Short awkward silence followed.  
“While we´re at the Mangle; just feed it pizza, it will explode. Don´t worry about getting in trouble with the management, no one can tell the difference. It gets torn apart by the kids everyday and no one cares, so there should be no big deal about it.”  
“SO, in case you fucking make it trough this shit and want to come at daytime to sue the management; BE FUCKING CAREFUL. Just because it´s day, the place isn´t less dangerous. I´ll tell you what: Chica once almost fucking gutted me, because she thought I looked at her ass.”  
“Did you?”  
“NO FUCKING WAY! I was trying to read the signature of the company (or whatever it´s called) on her lower backside, to find out who I gotta sue for my PTSD. Fucking Afton companies. I would fuck that fucking Afton sideways with a ten inch, acid-laced, spiked telegraph pole.”  
“What a coincidence! I´m Afton!”  
Mike didn´t even gave a response to this amount of bullshit. “Whatever, so while I was doing NOTHING but reading, she turns around and GOES HAYWIRE. Screaming “Pervert” of the top of her lungs, the whole restaurant watches AS SHE ATTACKS ME. YES, FULL ON ATTACK MODE, TRYING TO BITE MY FUCKING FACE OFF. Vincent had a taser on hand… thanks for that, once again. Even though it´s kinda disturbing seeing you handle that thing around kids.”  
“I´ve had worse things in my hands around kids, to be frank.”  
No, it wasn´t worth asking, judging by Vincent´s giant grin.  
“Alright. Freddy is at day mostly depressed and DON´T EVER BOOP HIS NOSE. Just don´t. He will screech like a maniac.”  
“You booped his nose?!” The Purple Guy laughed his ass off. “How old ARE you? Ten?!”  
“Shut the fuck up or I´m gonna fucking fill your mouth with whatever I find inside of the trashpile.”  
“Mike is still a kid inside! Mike is still a kid inside!”  
“You were the one who wanted a mouth full of fleshlights. Tough luck.”  
Once again the slight Psychopath turned back to the recordings. “If you meet Bonnie at daytime, pretend you have his face and place a pizza or something instead on it. IT´S GONNA BE GOOD.”  
“DON´T! Let the fucking gay rabbit alone for fucks sake. Next to the fact that you´ll be slam-dunked.”  
“Bonnie has strong arms, I´ll admit.”  
“And you probably think that´s attractive.” Sarcasm oozed out of the words.  
“YES. Just fucking look at those GUNS, BABE!”  
“Argh, why the fuck am I even talking with you. Sorry, Night Guard, you hear of us tomorrow… if you survive and don´t quit for some reason.”  
The tape clicked and was carefully placed back on the table, while Vincent already picked up the next one. “Hey-yo, what´s poppin´ babe? Still going strong?! Sure hope so! On day three… it´s three, right? On day three, we´re gonna teach ya about…” Confused he shot Mike a look, who only shrugged. “… Some fun facts about Freddy´s! Did you know how we once had a Foxy-Strip-club? Got shut down pretty quickly…”  
“The fuck did they expect?! How did they even get the permission to open that in the first place?!”  
“Rules of the market; if there´s a demand for it, there will be someone who provides… and HELL, there´s a demand for it. Moving on from that topic: We had a restaurant full of Doggos! We now have shipped them into different establishments and even have a few here. You´ll probably never see them, because they sleep at night, but believe me, they are here.”  
“Ah, I thought I imagined them. Wait… isn´t it unhygienic to have dogs in the same place where you eat your food?”  
“Eh, they don´t get into the kitchen and the customers love them, even if they bite quite often.”  
“If it doesn´t matter with the robots, it doesn´t matter with dogs, right?”  
“Guess so… Hey! Did you know that this establishment is partner and one of the many sponsors of the new medical procedure? The one that keeps people alive with the help of mechanical transmission? It´s even in your contract. As long as your body isn´t total mush, they will use the operation technique to… how do I put it… “Save your life”. Have to admit, it works, but most sprinlocked workers loose their head in the process. And even if your wife and children probably won´t recognize you, you at least keep your job at Freddy´s!”  
“Is that why Phone Guy…” As he opened his mouth, Mike noticed how stupid his question would sound. Of course this was the reason why he had a phone for a head, what else could be the reason, fuckhead?! Quick, think of something less stupid, even if it doesn´t make sense! “… Is so relaxed? He already made it through worse?”  
“You call his behavior relaxed? Geez, the fuck have YOU been through?”  
Mike only shrugged, relieved that his stupidity was once again covered up. After a long stare Vincent turned away and continued his fun facts.  
“We here at Freddy´s own quite a lot of buildings that aren´t used as restaurants! We have underground storage facilities for some of the more dangerous machines and a whole factory…” Snickering he stopped and turned away.  
The other Guard only rolled his eyes. “Who the fuck cares about that?”  
“Someone is always out there. It´s amazing about how insignificant details some people care. A real weird guy once asked me about how many toes the animatronics have.”  
“Why…?”  
“Why not, I guess? He seemed satisfied with the answer I gave him.”  
“What did you say? Do you actually know that shit?”  
“Nah man, I was making shit up, telling him different numbers between six and three.”  
They got lost in different thoughts. After a while a quiet ringing made them jump up.  
“Oh shit, I think Phoney is here! But don´t worry, I´m going to distract him. Finish the recordings and put them back where we found them, so he doesn´t get suspicious!” Winking at him Vincent left the room, rushing to find the boss.  
Now alone at with the recording, Mike´s mind started to spin for no good reason. His hands slowly reached towards his pocket, but he shook his head and simply sat down.  
“You know…” he started, his voice empty. “… It´s a waste of time to try to solve this place. I´ve been here for almost two weeks, one of it at the nightshift, the rest at the dayshift. Let me tell you, the co-workers are hell, the robots are hell and even the kids are hell. Everyday I stare at the clock, planning to quit the next time I see the boss. But before I know it it´s morning again and I´m getting ready to work. Somehow… I can´t leave. This isn´t some stupid pity-party, I know it´s my own responsibility, yet… Don´t you think it´s weird? Do you feel the same? Or do you some other reason to come here everyday? Look at this shitshow… I personally invite you to visit at the day, I´ll get you a pizza and a drink for free and then you can see it for yourself. Our boss is a guy with a Phone for a head… and hey, that might not be that weird if it helped him survive whatever happened to him… but that nobody ever seems to care or ask about it is! No one of the staff is… normal. You should see the man who runs the prize corner… terrifying, I tell you. And the customers! Oh, the customers! They look like normal humans, they act like normal humans, but what kind of HUMAN, PARENT TO BE SPECIFIC, would be fine with bringing their kid into this place?! EVERYONE knows of the countless incidents with the animatronics, how dangerous and aggressive they are! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT CHILDREN DISAPPEAR AROUND HERE! And yet… we all come back here. Even I feel somewhat attached. I mean, don´t get me wrong, I hate this place, with the same intensity as everything else in my life, however… I get so… giddy when I´m away. As if there´s a mighty importance in being here and I´m wasting time being anywhere else.”  
Suddenly it clicked in Mike´s head how insane he sounded.  
“Well, I guess that is what being a lonely asshole turns you into. You project your loneliness onto your fucking job. Forget I said anything. Good luck surviving.”  
Just as he tried to place the tape back in it´s rightful place, the door swung open and an infuriated PG entered, dragging the defeated purple Guard behind him.  
“MIKE SCHMIDT! WHY? WHY DO YOU LISTEN TO VINCENT!? DIDN´T WE HAVE A TALK ABOUT THAT?”  
“The fuck are you screaming about? We were bored, alright? At least we didn´t screw with the robots!”  
“Oh, yeah, great, you didn´t do the thing that would get you fired! GOOD JOB, slow clap! I thought you were a stronger person than that, Mike!”  
Vincent weighed in. “Just because you choose fun over boredom, doesn´t mean you´re weak, it´s just means you have a brain. Like you obviously don´t do.”  
“I have an efficient chip in my Phone that is probably even better than a brain!”  
“No, what are you talking about?! You can´t remember shit, you can´t realize shit, you´re just really stupid Phoney!”  
“ENOUGH. I don´t have to let my employees insult me! Mike! Get out of my sight. Go home and get wasted for all I care. Tomorrow I expect you to have reflected on your faults and assist me THE WHOLE DAY. I won´t let you out of my sight.”  
Mike hated this unfair punishment.  
“Come on, man! That´s fucked up! All I did was record some messages! We even taught him how to survive, better then you ever do!”  
“Well, Employee, did you ever considered that EVERYONE can hear these messages? For example, THE POLICE? With that amount of evidence you probably spewed, we could get shut down in days! For Christ sake, you never spend three minutes to just think, do you?!”  
Silenced and ridiculed Mike looked away. “Why should I care if Freddy´s stays open or not…”  
“Because if I go to prison, you´re all going to join me.”  
Purple Guy grinned bemused. “Oho, Phoney is getting feisty! I like it! I feel the fear running down my spine! Please no, oh great Phone Guy, don´t send us to jail!”  
“Just. Get. Out.”  
A small bit of guilt nagged on the back of Mike´s brain, but he refrained from trying to talk to the poor man, who was shaking with rage. If Mike knew anything, then it was rage and that it would only get worse, no matter what he said.  
As his guilt-lacking partner tried to follow him, he was yanked back by his jacket. One could feel the tension in the room.  
“Are you happy with your new… plaything? Or are you planning on getting rid of him as soon as he starts to question you?”  
“Can´t complain...” He chuckled. “At least there´s nothing BAD happening right now, so be thankful. Honestly! I need to give you praise! It´s going great for all of us! The kitchen is almost legal, the robots are almost legal, no more mutant rats, no more salad bars to smash. What are some yiffing controversies and some toddlers almost drowning in a ball pit for a big deal anyway? This place has a real chance to sustain itself and that´s all because of your care and effort. Really, I´m proud of you! We have a real chance now!”  
Phone Guy blinked, unsure if this was reality. Since when did the Aubergine Guy have a serious side? And gave compliments to HIM?  
There was no hint of sarcasm in Vincent´s eyes. He really was proud.  
Since when wanted this man for the chain to stay alive?  
It had something to do with this cursed orange man. His memory was fuzzy, but he only needed to reread his notes from the different establishments to see how weird the psycho acted compared to his life before.  
Keep yourself together! He still needed to punish Vincent.  
“I-if that´s so… uh… You… You have to rework the Toys. Make sure their face-recognition doesn´t glitch and they won´t attack customers. Polish them! The great reveal is supposed to be PERFECT. This is your punishment for the extra work I now have to do!”  
“Why are you making a big deal out of years old robots and act as if they´re all new and advanced, even though you only shipped them over?”  
“Well, the customers don´t know them. The greatest innovations were already multiple years old and stolen from other people.”  
“Fine, fine, Imma get them so shiny, the customers go blind!”  
“NO.”  
“Fucking hell, Phoney, I was kidding.”  
“Leave now. I have to check how much you ruined.”  
Moody, the aubergine colored man strolled to the show room, where he programmed the animatronics to spend the most time. As expected they were chattering with each other, going quiet once he closed in.  
It was always a surprise how good the dead could remember.  
“Get over here; you need to look pretty for the kiddens!”  
The machines growled, but came slowly closer. Toy-Foxy twitched. Silently Vincent cursed, hoping this wouldn´t end the same way as usual. “C´mon Foxy, my favorite gal, you just got repaired… and the last three times it didn´t end up well for you now, did it?”  
Shortly the Fox stopped, but then it screeched and jumped. With a swift movement, Vincent stepped aside, letting it crash and started to wreck it with his handy-dandy-crowbar. It was only a matter of seconds until the robot turned into a useless pile.  
“And here we go again… Phoney is gonna be pissed.” Dismissively he shot the other animatronics a glance. “Who´s next?”  
They had turned silent and didn´t move anymore.  
“Good. Now get come closer, I´m doing you a favor with this. You´ll LOVE it, I promise!” Grinning he started polishing them, knowing that his words reminded them of their last living day.  
It´s in a secret room… You´ll LOVE it, I promise!  
Once he was finished with all of them, he entered the backroom.  
There was one robot he hadn´t activated for the test run, WITH Phoney´s approval.  
Well, that untypical mercy of his boss had run thin and now he would relive that daily struggle of being slightly worried for his testicles.  
Inside the room, next to the unmoving suits, laid the box, covered in chains. Of course it was ridiculous to do that, a simple padlock would have been enough, but he could appreciate the dramatic appearance.  
Carefully he unwrapped the gift and carried it into the prize corner, the most central place in the restaurant, so they could rush over and wind it up whenever necessary.  
That and the fact that he still hoped that the puppet would one day just castrate the freaky Matt.  
After he oiled the music-mechanism and started it up, he opened the box and picked the small creature up that was hidden inside.  
Slightly he chuckled at how helpless and fragile the monster seemed, unconscious in his arms. It almost reminded him that it was once a kid itself.  
Without hesitation he started to polish this most dangerous entity as well, cleaning him from dust, mucus and blood that had stained on his body after the Phone hid one of the bodies inside the box. It took almost ten minutes, but it was worth it, the thing looked almost child friendly again.  
One last time he wound up the box and cleaned the box as well, before placing the being back into it.  
It was getting dark; the newly hired guard should come soon. He shortly wondered what kind of guy it would be and if he would survive.  
But that probably didn´t matter and he would never know. With a final satisfied sigh he turned to leave.  
William Afton. Aren´t you an unlucky fellow?  
He stopped dead in his tracks. The music box was fully wound, how was this possible?!  
I rested for quite some time after our last unfortunate meeting. The energy to talk I have to spare.  
“Then you should rather use the energy to think! Last time you SUCKED at stopping me and Old Sport!”  
I didn´t prepare for him of all people to turn on us.  
“… Turn…? Ah, it doesn´t matter! You can´t do shit against me! Come back to threaten me, once you learned how to leave your box.”  
Oh, when I managed to escape this prison, I will not even consider threatening you, as it would obviously only waste time for both of us, precious time I preferred spending celebrating. No, I will simply kill you. I am looking forward to that day, William.  
“I would say I look forward to that day too, but it would be as if I said that I look forward to the day that I have a nice chat with Santa Clause and that won´t ever happen. Keep trying though, it would be boring if I wouldn´t have someone to make fun of!”  
Your arrogance will be your downfall, if desire for ownership over a certain person will not get you first. We WILL have our happiest day. And we will make you pay afterwards for a long time…  
“Wish you all the best! Have fun killing the Night Guard, Imma get some shuteye. See ya tomorrow!”  
Finally he exited the restaurant and breathed in the cold night air.  
It was nice having the puppet back around, even if he was quite the nuisance. There was just something inherently entertaining about seeing something struggle in a hopeless situation.  
It reminded him of his childhood, where he drowned the neighbor´s cat in a large bucket. Whenever it managed to get a hold of the sides he simply nudged it back in, until it just… sunk.  
Fondly he smiled at his peaceful childhood days.  
While he didn´t had someone to share the game with until he met Henry at the University for Mechanical Science, he still had been a very happy kid.  
Now Henry was gone though.  
Softly Vincent bit his lip, trying to not drag himself down. Old Sport was out there, somewhere and would meet up with him soon.  
If he knew one thing, then that Old Sport would always come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: JEEEESUS Christ. I´m getting the feeling that I´m shit at what I´m doing. I can´t feel anything while writing this. Please tell me if I´m paranoid or should rewrite it. ;-;  
> So, more ominous shit, the official introduction of the puppet and maybe some entertainment? Hopefully??  
> Is it obvious I have no idea about University? Do I have to change the “name”, or is it fine to call it like that?  
> God damn it, I need some sleep.  
> Really, thank you for spending your time with this. Have a nice day!


	4. How to make pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronaldo the DOUGHMASTER, Master of dough, gets sick and Mike is forced to replace him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO... even less dark than before, I hope. The chapter that would be before this one would be chapter four of Phone Guy´s Pizzeria.  
> Fun fact: This was actually the first chapter I finished x3  
> As always, I hope you enjoy!

Shyly Jeremy tipped Phone Guy on the shoulder.  
“Excuse me, sir? Ronaldo is sick today…”  
“WHAT?! Sick?! How can he… what…!?”  
“He told me on the phone that he is vomiting blood right now…”  
“You don´t have to believe everything that you hear Jeremy!”  
“B-but I heard splattering in the background when he paused…”  
“That doesn´t matter! What are we going to do now?!”  
Mike overheard the conversation. “Who the fuck is Ronaldo?”  
“The DOUGHMASTER! Master of the dough! He is our chef. What are we supposed to serve without his pizza?!”  
Phone Guy would probably run his fingers through his hair if he had any, but playing around with his phone cord seemed a good substitute. Hastily he made a decision.  
“Mike, you will fill his role today!”  
“What? Fuck no, I can´t even make pizza! And everything I put into the oven catches on fire! Why can´t Jerry do that shit?”  
“Because I need him out here to deal with the customers! He at least doesn´t insult everyone who asks for the bathroom!”  
“But why the fuck do they even ask for one?! DO WE LOOK LIKE WE SHIT ON THE FLOOR HERE? WE HAVE EVEN A FUCKING RULE AGAINST THAT!”  
“You see? That´s why you´re going to spend you day in the kitchen.”  
“Hey! Hey Phoney! Can´t I do that?” Vincent popped out behind a curtain.  
“… How long did you hide behind there?”  
“Ten minutes.”  
“But… why?”  
“For the dramatic effect!”  
PG sighed and shook his head. “No you aren´t allowed in the kitchen, after you almost blew up the whole restaurant and served a pizza with Bonnie´s REAL face on it.  
“But they asked for it!”  
“They meant for you to form a face out of the salami, for hecking darn gosh!”  
“Well, I didn´t know that… won´t happen this time, boss. Now, can I?!” He gave the Phone his best Sunday smile- if we´re talking about a Sunday-massacre.  
“No. That´s my last word. Mike go now, the first customers will arrive soon!”  
Growling Mike went into the kitchen. Once Phone Guy turned away, Vincent followed him.  
“Hey, Mikey, wait up! You surely need the recipes, don´t cha?!”  
Distrustful Mike inspected the wide grin of his co-worker. “Isn´t there some kind of book for that?”  
Vincent laughed. “No, of course not! Why would Ronaldo need that kind of stuff? We have to use our memory… good that I have all the different steps memorized!”  
“Are you fucking with me?” He just wanted to cut the crap.  
“I wish.” Completely serious the aubergine man looked at him.  
And Mike wished he hadn´t worded that so poorly.  
“Alright, let´s prepare some pizza. If Phone Guy get´s us; you threatened to kill a doggo if I wouldn´t let you stay.”  
“Good idea!”  
The cynical Guard wasn´t sure if he meant the excuse or killing doggos if he was sent away.  
“First we´ll prepare the groundwork of the pizza! The dough and the sauce! The dough get´s actually made here, the sauce is out of cans. Put the prepared ingredients into the bowls, to mix ´em up!”  
Unmotivated Mike followed the steps. This was already boring and repetitive.  
“We actually have to do that, since we accidently created a mutated rat with our dumpster-dough. If I think back, it was probably a bad idea to have a children restaurant next to a nuclear reactor.”  
“That was the bad idea? Not the shitty idea to take ingredients out of a dumpster?”  
But already Vincent had moved on with the recipe.  
“Now you put a little weed into all of them!”  
For how stupid did Vincent take him for?  
“As if I´d do that. You´re not tricking me.”  
“I´m not kidding.” Serious once again Vincent opened a closet filled with that shit. “Why do you think our customers don´t care that we have a Phone-head as our Head-Guard?”  
Finally it made sense! “What the fuck is wrong with you people?!”  
“Pst! He didn´t ask to become an abomination.” The Purple Guy´s smile returned on his face. “Now go on, we don´t have all day!”  
They mixed the dough into the perfect lump, then put it into the oven. Because of the fire-hazard Vincent was the one doing that, while Mike cut up some vegetables and one fruit.  
“Why would anyone eat tomato on pizza that already has tomato sauce on it?”  
Sympathetic his company patted him on the back. “There a truly broke people out there, Mikey. Just fulfill their wishes, they´re already lost.”  
The base for the pizza was ready and smelled delicious. Right on time, because Jeremy brought the first orders.  
“One Freddy-special, with a diet limo!”  
“WHY THE FUCK DO THEY ORDER PIZZA AND THEN PRETEND TO FUCKING CARE ABOUT THEIR WEIGHT?!”  
“Broken people, Mike. Broken.” Crossing his arms Vincent nodded.  
“Alright then.” Without wasting another thought about the customers, he picked up the Chica-themed bottle and filled it with the friendly looking fluid.  
With one stare Mike destroyed the happiness of that poor liquid, as it now understood that it time was limited and by now already wasted. If it had only spent more time with his children… it barely remembered them getting their first bubbles…  
The now sad looking fluid was shut in, together with some ice.  
The Freddy special just were basically every ingredient together, on an extra-large base. It wasn´t the best Freddy´s had to offer, at least in Mike´s opinion.  
They gave the pizza out and got the next order in.  
“Two times the normal and a large can of motor oil!”  
Both employees already gave up asking.  
“One Bonnie-pizza and one portion fries.”  
“Who buys fries at a-”  
“There´s no fixing for these suffering sheep.”  
The day continued and both of them were working on a fast pace, bringing out the pizza as quickly as possible. Mike kept an eye on Vincent, but suspiciously he didn´t do anything wrong.  
“One time direct-special!”  
“What is the fuck is that?”  
“Oh, it´s a pizza for doggos. Just don´t put on any sauce, instead they prefer kibbles.”  
This was too far even for someone who had seen the most ridiculous things at Freddy´s. DOGS ODERING PIZZA? Yeah, as fucking if.  
“No, you´re trying to sabotage me. You want to get me fired by the boss.”  
“What are you saying, we have-”  
“You know what? FINE.” he piled an enormous amount of kibble on the pizza dough. “I don´t even want to do this shit ever again. Fuck you and fuck PG, he can do it the next fucking time.”  
Angrily he gave the pizza to the counter. “…fucking Phone-face forcing me to do stupid shit, just because I swear a bit, he should fucking desensitize himself….”  
It was almost noon, when the first real problem arrived, Mike had accidently touched the oven and now half of the kitchen stood in flames.  
“OH, HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!” Panicked he filled buckets with water and threw it into the howling flames. Vincent only kept on making pizza.  
“Maybe you have secret superpowers you don´t know about?”  
“COULD YOU MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASS OVER HERE AND HELP ME NOT TO KILL EVERYONE IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT?!”  
“But then the customers will get cranky! They want their pizza as fast as possible!”  
“THEY WANT TO LIVE MORE THAN THEY WANT THE FUCKING PIZZA!”  
“Are you sure about that? Maybe some of them are like you.”  
Too preoccupied to punch the cancerous fuckface, Mike kept on trying to quench the fire.  
After five minutes watching him, Vincent stepped to a switch on the wall and activated it. Immediately a hundred bucket amount of water rained form the ceiling, drenching the other Guard and destroying the flames.  
Slowly Mike turned around, twitching. “Do you honestly want to fucking say that you could do that all the time, or at least warn me before you do it and just CHOSE TO FUCK UP MY DAY?!”  
As Vincent grabbed a red towel, it went too far for Mike, he ran towards that piece of shit with the intention of breaking his neck.  
Vincent swiftly made a step out of the way, which led to Mike’s crash into the kitchen table. It only made him angrier though, so he turned around and started to sprint again at the Guard who only wriggled with the towel once more.  
It made him almost crash head first into Phone Guy.  
“Employee, what is going o-” He looked from Vincent standing there with his red towel to the drenched Mike. “Didn´t I tell you to not to let him into the kitchen?! So it´s your fault that the customers act all weird!”  
“Weird? Weirder than usual?” Mike was curious at how that was possible.  
“They are all just sitting around, completely relaxed and stuffing their face with food! I mean, it´s fairly nice, because we don´t risk anyone getting bitten and… other things… but I fear that whatever you did to get that effect is illegal.”  
“Ah, Phoney, don´tcha worry, we only used some of Ronaldo´s weed, no biggie!”  
“YOU PUT THAT INTO THE PIZZA?! ARE YOU CRAZY?! KIDS ARE EATING THAT! MIKE SCHMIDT, HOW AND WHY DID YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?!”  
“He fucking said- I mean… he threatened to gut a doggo, boss! How the fuck should I have reacted?!”  
“VINCENT! YOU… H-HECKING DARN EGGPLANT!” Phone Guy rubbed his face, trying to calm down. “The doggos are basically untouchable, so that was a bluff.”  
“But it was a good one, rite?!”  
“Vincent, Mike, you will switch now with Jeremy. I don´t want to see any of you in the kitchen for today… so nothing worse can happen.”  
Mike shot Vincent an angry stare. “You said-”  
“Do I look like I´m to be trusted?” The Purple Guy laughed and snitched Mike´s hat. The scars under there didn´t seem to irritate him in the slightest, because he just kept grinning and ran away.  
“COME BACK OR I TAKE YOUR FUCKING DICK AND SERVE IT ON THE NEXT PIZZA, AFTER I COOKED IT WHILE IT WAS STILL ATTACHED TO YOU!”  
“If you manage to get me~”  
They darted around the main show area, the customers started to turn their heads to watch.  
“Look at me Mikey, I´m the pizza now!” With that he jumped on top of one of the longer tables, running towards the other end. The part time Night Guard took this opportunity to flip said table on the side, letting Vincent crash to the left, close to the ball pit. Grinning he hissed and jumped into it. Quickly Mike ran to the edge of the ball pit, trying to find out where he was hiding.  
All of a sudden he felt that his leg was being grabbed and he tripped into the balls. While sixty percent of his brain thought how much it would hurt to crash into a one foot deep hole, filled with nothing but plastic balls, the rest noticed Vincent screaming “UNDERWATER KISS” and was terrified.  
After fighting off his co-worker who tried to molest him like a psychotic mermaid (Merman? Would merman do that?), he was confronted with the problem that THE BALL PIT HAD NO FUCKING GROUND.  
Panicking he saved himself on an Island, which was appearently made out of Mangle´s spare parts and regained his breath. Only shortly though, because there was Vincent, grabbing onto the shore.  
“Rose… Go on without me…” He said, in his ridiculous over-the-top way, pretending to be drowning (well, maybe he actually was, thought Mike to himself).  
A spilt second Mike stared, but then grabbed Vincent´s head and pushed him under the balls. “DROWN YOU FUCKING PURPLE PEST, I`M GOING TO END YOU WORTHLESS FUCKING LIFE-”  
“EMPLOYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!”  
Oh-oh. Mike pretended to only sit peacefully on his shore, while Vincent struggled to get up as well. “Yeeees… boss?”  
“DID YOU PUSH OVER THE TABLES IN THE MAIN ROOM?”  
“Well, Mikey here was just unstoppable…”  
Mike wouldn´t let that accusation just stand in the room.  
“I? YOU FUCKING JUMPED ON TOP OF THE TABLES LIKE NOBODY´S BUISNESS!”  
“BE QUIET YOU- H-HOOLIGANS!”  
“What?”  
“What?”  
Confused they gave PG time to calm down.  
After a while he stopped screaming into his hands.  
“You! Both of you! If the customers would complain, I would have to fire you! TOO BAD THEY´RE ALL HIGH. So congrats. Now. GET. INTO. YOUR. SUITS. Or I´ll reconsider letting you stay.”  
Like beaten puppies they passed Phone Guy with lowered heads. After they left his hearing range, Mike softly uttered to Vincent. “I think he´s having a bad day…”  
“Eh, I think he´s doing great! I mean, by now no one has died and everyone is just eating our pizza. No complaints, no potential danger, no problems! This is probably the best day we´ve had in weeks!”  
They entered the saferoom.  
No music was able to reach through the soundproofed walls.  
It was awfully gloomy, except the golden Suits that lied on the ground.  
“Did ya ever use one of these, Mikey? It´s a bit complicated… you may want to listen to some tapes first.”  
“Nah fuck that, can´t be that hard.”  
Vincent snickered. “Honestly, those are famous last words. Let me help you, before Phoney gets even madder at me!”  
“To paraphrase you: “You´re clearly not be trusted.” I´m good, thanks.”  
“You should REALLY take my friendly offer, co-worker. Or I might get the impression you have a… bad image of me.”  
While talking, Mike stripped golden Fredbear on. “Well, you fucked me over, more often than not, so- Yeah, I kind of distrust you.” He was getting more and more angry, the longer he thought about it. “The fuck do you actually expect?! You´re the biggest asshole I ever met, with NO regards for anyone! YOU DRUGGED KIDS FOR ENTERTAINMENT JUST NOW.”  
“You helped.” Vincent´s grin had vanished as he closely watched his co-worker getting dressed.  
“I DIDN´T FUCKING KNOW BETTER!” With that he slipped the head on.  
Vincent paused for a second. Nothing happened. How the fuck was that possible?  
“Now let´s get going, before PG shits on us even more.” Mike turned around, walking towards the exit.  
Well, it didn´t matter now, right? He could always help fate a little…  
Vincent softly grabbed one of the bolts that were perking out of the side of the costume and tugged it out.  
Any minute now, the springlocks would be buried deep inside the lungs of this annoying dick and he would break down and try to scream, scream for help that would never come…  
“What are you doing?” Mike turned around.  
Just… there was no Mike anymore, staring out of the eyeholes.  
Only white dots.  
Oh, after all this time.  
They met again.  
This was HIS suit.  
Fredbear would HAVE to know.  
“Fredbear.” He grabbed the snout and pulled it closer.  
“Where. Is. Henry?”  
Laughter, deep distorted laughter filled his ears, similar, but not the same as Henry´s laughter once the other mechanics and programmers asked for the secrets behind his life-like robots, once they lured the kiddens into the backroom, once he told him about the suits planned fatal flaws…  
Reality came back, as Mike opened the door, walking backwards, still staring at him.  
Quickly he got his smile back on the face and suited up as well, following him. “Hey, Mike-”  
“You´re creepy.”  
“Yes, but I wanted to tell you something… you´re blessed! Someone is really keeping an eye on you and that´s great! But be careful… one sides blessing is the other ones curse. You better make sure you´re on the right side...”  
"OH FUCK OFF with that bullshit. I have my own side that wants everyone else to kill themselves.”  
“Alright!” He laughed cheerily and kept beside him. “But honestly, you should give me chance! I didn´t do anything to HARM you, did I? The drugs were on my responsibility and Phoney would have only fired me. I´m not that bad, Mikey! It would break my heart if you thought like that of me~”  
Shortly Mike paused and glanced at him. He wasn´t a casual liar, that was painfully obvious to Vincent.  
“I admit, it´s a little funny to see the customers like that. Still, you lied to me. You outright stated that you aren´t trustworthy.”  
“Well, I´m a prankster! I can´t help being a little saucy!”  
“Saucy?! Who the fuck says that?!”  
“Fine, fine… I´m cheeky!” It was important to gain his trust. Either his trust or his life and it was always a pain in the ass to get rid of other employees, who aren´t able to be springlocked. “C´mon, do you really want to tell me that you can dish out, but can´t deal with it being leveled at you?!”  
“When did I ever prank you?”  
“You could start, if you wanted to…”  
“Like a competition?”  
Shortly, for the split of a millisecond, there was his pink-skinned partner, smugly grinning with his dark eyes, after his once again genius proposition.  
“Yeah… that could be fun!”  
“Meh, you´ll get me fired when I win.”  
“You won´t win!” He was getting somewhere, at least that was what Mike´s small smile told him.  
“Alright. You wanted it like that. LET THE FUCKING PRANKS BEGIN! But one exception: NO OTHER PEOPLE GET INVOLVED.”  
“Aww, you´re worried I touch your lil´ Jeremy?”  
“Yeah, you´re a psycho. I´ve seen kidnap pranks, where their best friend got kidnapped along for realism and hell… those weren´t traumatizing at all.”  
“But if they weren´t trauma-”  
“IRONY. DO YOU FUCKING SPEAK IT?!”  
“I get it; I get it… no other Guards. But kidnapping you is not of limits, right?”  
“I´m fairly sure even YOU know the right answer to that.”  
“Do we need some safewords, daddy~?”  
“Kill yourself.”  
“You say that all the time. How about “OH GREATEST PRANKSTER OF ALL TIME, PLEASE FORGIVE MY PUNY ATTEMPTS AT BESTING YOU! I WILL REPENT IN WHATEVER WAY YOU WANT ME TO!”  
“Without the last part.”  
“But that´s the fun part! Where´s the fun in no risk?”  
Mike was a gambler, Vincent had seen that when they first met. Vegas was filled with hot-headed idiots, who weren´t able to weigh risk and reward… who didn´t know that the whole game was rigged.  
“Alright. I´m going to bring you down to hell once I´ve won.”  
Now the idiot was his, without question. He was far to good-hearted to do something that would even make him CONSIDER giving up.  
“Can´t wait for that~”  
The day finished and on the way out, Vincent smooched Mike on the cheek.  
“See ya tomorrow… I only expect the best of you!”  
His grin froze shortly, as he saw the reddening of Mike’s face, who looked shocked. Then the grin only stretched. Mikey was far too sweet and far too fragile for his though exterior. But hey, the more weak points he got, the easier it would be to keep him… around.  
The other Guard suddenly yanked Vincent´s hair, walking past him, while he was busy rubbing the back of his now paining head.  
“Never do that again, understood? NEVER touch me again. You… fucking startled me. Weirdo.”  
“You´re far too cute for me to stop~”  
He had already left.  
Actually, it was pitiful. Mike didn´t seem to know that Vincent was like a shark. A shark that just had smelled blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet Jesus I got my first kudo! Now I know that there´s at least one person out there who enjoyed what I did! MY STORY ISN´T COMPLETE SHIT!  
> Really, thank you unknown guest... you cheered me up.  
> I´m going to wait a little longer with the next chapter, since it will be complete fluff and I want to establish the first relationship. If you have a favorite ship between PG,Mike and Jeremy, comment and I will implement it :3 
> 
> Btw, is it obvious that I overthink DaF far too much? I just find so many odd details...  
> Nevermind, thank you for reading and have a nice day! :D


	5. Get vaccinated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaccinating about ten dogs is quite difficult... so they rather choose to do that to the employees. Too bad one of them is deadly terrfied of needles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, took myself some time, since I hoped for a shipping request. Actually got a lovely comment (thank you Anon the magical!), but since no one cared about the other Guard-ship, I finished it just now. At least it´s 2000 words longer than the usual.  
> So, as promised, crack and fluff! And the start of PG/Mike! Sure hope you will enjoy it! (and if not tell me why!)

Jeremy woke up in a good mood, like usual, and made himself some hot chocolate, to get in working mood, which was usual as well. He said goodbye to his Plushies and left, expecting another nice day around nice people and awesome animatronics that didn´t try to kill him on sight.  
As he opened the doors of the pizzeria, the place was still somber, like usual. No one was to be seen, since Mike would still snooze in a corner, Mr. Phone Guy would be checking on the office and Mr. Miller was normally late.  
Most time he would come in with a cool little animal on his arm, or in an impressively good mood, declaring his love for everyone and everything.  
Well, sometimes not, but even then he would most definitely not run screaming through the hallway and hide behind Jeremy.  
“JEREMY, SAVE ME, THEY WANT TO SHOOT ME!”  
And indeed, a gunshot was to be heard and a projectile flew a millimeter past his face making them jump behind a turned table. Vincent started shaking, his face distorted into an expression of pure terror. Never before had Jeremy seen his older co-worker fazed by, let alone scared of something. Almost immediately the feeling infected him, he felt his stomach contort into a lump of led. Now equally terrified, he began to shake as well.  
“W-what?! W-why are t-they doing t-that?! S-should we h-hide?!”  
“GOSH HECKING DARN IT, EMPLOYEE! I HAD HIM RIGHT ON SIGHT!”  
“Fuck, Jerry, can you even have worse timing than that?! For fuck´s sake, I almost got him in the neck!”  
Mr. Phone Guy and Mike jumped from behind the next corner, war paint and a matching impression on the face. They each carried a large rifle.  
“M-Mr. Phoney Guy? C-can you please not s-shoot me and Mr. Miller?”  
“Vincent!” It sounded quietly out form the other side of the Pizzeria. How he managed to change position that quickly was a mystery.  
“E-excuse me, of course, Mr. Vincent.”  
“Just Vincent you numbnut, I´m not that crippling old!”  
“B-but that feels very unmannered for me!”  
Now Mike dropped his weapon and raised an eyebrow. “So why are you calling me only Mike then?”  
“B-because I p-prefer not “being kicked in the dick and drenched in the toilet, after that being hung from a fucking tree, until the crows start picking on me.” I… imagined that as really unpleasant…”  
“Fucking hell, did I actually say that?! Shit… sorry kid, I guess I had a bad day.”  
“It´s fine, it was my fault, I already knew that you didn´t like the polite approach.”  
The normally so uncaring Guard closed in on Jeremy and ruffled his brown curls. “Yeah, but that doesn´t really excuse me. WHILE we´re at excuses… WHY THE FUCKING FUCK DID YOU FUCK UP MY HIT?”  
The youngest one shrieked and jumped back at this sudden mood shift. “P-please Mr- I m-mean Mike, d-don´t kill anyone! Mr. Mill- I mean V-vincent surely d-doesn´t deserve it!”  
“Listen, you don´t understand…”  
“A-and you c-could go to j-jail! T-that would be bad!”  
Sometimes, when Mike couldn´t sleep at night, his mind wandered to his co-workers. What exactly happened to create a human-phone-hybrid? What was going on in Vincent´s brain? What kept the others to come back to this insanity?  
Yet, he felt as if the biggest mystery was Jeremy. Like, c´mon, how could someone this innocent NOT being revealed to be the main antagonist?! This amount of innocent was only needed, if you were hiding something truly dark.  
On the other hand, how could you respect a villain that always started to hum along to the Fredbear and Friends theme song? When NO ONE was even in the room?  
Probably his nights would be better spend sleeping, than trying to guess insane plot twists that would never happen.  
“S-so would you c-consider… putting that g-gun away?”  
“Are you alright, employee?”  
Snapping back to reality he realized that he had stared at his small companion for about two minutes, without blinking.  
“Eh… I… Jerry, we aren´t trying to fucking kill him, no matter how much I wish we were, we´re trying to hit him with a syringe.”  
“Why?” Helpless the sign-faced worker looked from his boss to his only friend. Phone Guy finally had mercy and explained the situation.  
“Well, the dogs in this place have rabies… among other things… and since it would be easier, cheaper and far more convenient to simply vaccinate the employees instead of the dogs, we´re currently doing that. Mike was the first one to get his medicine, afterwards Vincent entered, first grinning, then screaming, even though Mike had informed Vincent of today´s schedule…”  
Mike had a smug grin on his face and continued. “He didn´t believe me, thought I was pranking him and came in… as soon as we got the syringe, the poor fucker started to howl like a scarred dog.”  
“Vincent isn´t allowed to continue to be a hazard! If he get´s rabies, he will most likely bite customers out of spite!”  
Skeptical Jeremy shook his head. “Why would he ever do that, sir?”  
“Who knows?! I gave up on understanding his motives a LONG time ago…” Slightly exhausted the Cyborg reloaded his weapon. “Since you managed to prolong this task by an unforeseeable amount, you will help us get this son of an aubergine. Pick a weapon that suits you, then come along for the hunt!”  
Nodding far too enthusiastically, Mike grinned at him and left the hallway, following the Purple Guy.  
Slightly concerned Jeremy checked the different options. There was a mini-gun, a Bow, a glove with syringes as claws and a metal chain with a syringe as a make shift hook.  
“S-sir… would you mind… uh… explain me why this… wide range of… things… are in this restaurant?”  
“Do not worry, employee, it´s only… uhm… standard… equipment. You know, just in case… a… case happens. Now hurry, we don´t have all day!”  
His hands shook already, but he reached for the chain. Phone Guy nodded, grabbed a tiny box filled with paint and drew stripes on Jeremy´s face. “Now get going, employee, we are counting on you!”  
With a pounding heart, the boy stepped outside and ran into Mike by accident, who was franticly switching places on the doors.  
“He´s in the fucking vents! What a psycho! It´s just a little medicine and if he wouldn´t be running around like that, we wouldn´t even NEED to fuck him up with guns!”  
“So… you´re saying this is his fault…?”  
“YEAH, KINDA!? I mean, it´s just a fucking needle! Chill!” Shortly he paused, considering something. “Well, shouldn´t fucking complain, at least I get to shoot at someone.”  
“S-shooting at someone i-is very bad…”  
Phone Guy´s arm showed itself with a thumps-up from behind the corridor and interrupted the futile attempt to appeal to Mike´s better side. “Get in there, Mike, we got him now!”  
“Let´s fucking go!” With a grim smile, the irrational man started to climb into the metal vent, his guns by his side. “VINCENT YOU PURPLE FUCK! I´M COMING FOR YOU!”  
There was panicked rumble inside the vent, heavy things bumping on metal, echoing sounds that perverted whatever noise the humans made into a distorted growling.  
Worried Jeremy hurried back to his boss, who aimed at the metal entrance. “Vincent made a bad decision… but he was always quite a mess, working by himself.”  
It was unusual to hear the calm and responsible guy that excited and triumphant and it didn´t help making Jeremy feel more comfortable. What if they would go crazy?! And couldn´t stop? What if the police would just come in and arrest them all? Or if they accidently had the wrong fluid in the syringes? Would they be able to live with murder? Maybe he should-  
The sounds out of the vent stopped.  
The Guards held their breath, ready for the big reveal. Was Mike victorious?  
But then the smoke came. Thick, black smoke, which burned in the eyes and made it hard to breath, left out of the metal gap and before they knew what was going on, two bodies left it, running around and bumping into the Guards outside.  
“MIKE?! WHO OF THEM ARE YOU? WHERE SHOULD I SHOOT?”  
“DOESN´T MATTER, GET HIM, GET HIM FOR FUCKS SAKE!”  
“IF I HIT YOU, YOU MIGHT DIE! IT´S PRETTY HIGH-CONCENTRATED!”  
“WHAT?!”  
Thirty seconds later the air cleared and left the hunters utterly confused.  
“How and why did he have a smoke bomb inside there?”  
“I´d be fucked if I know, but from what I´ve seen he had stored the bomb in there…”  
“Just- great. Now he hid again somewhere! Let´s spilt up, we need to get this done in an hour!”  
“Yeah, but how about we have a short fucking discussion about DYING?!”  
“Do not worry, we will not shoot at anybody else with this!”  
“I mean, it´s kinda fucked up, if you catch my drift…”  
“Vincent is fairly resilient and needs the high concentration to even get past his bloodstream... assuming he has blood.”  
“You know what? Fuck it, I just want to shoot a bitch.”  
Determined they dashed off into different paths, one left, one right, leaving Jeremy to guard the main hall. Maybe he should have mentioned that he had no idea how to use a weapon, especially this exotic model…  
Phone Guy was checking the kitchen and kid´s cove, grinding his dial, a feeling akin to grinding your teeth. If he had one dollar for every time Vincent made a scene, he probably could pay his child support, buy himself a house and had enough left to buy this whole establishment as well!  
He paid himself not nearly enough to deal with this chaos… but that didn´t matter. His payment would come in the sweet satisfaction of having shot and vaccinated Vincent.  
Angrily grinning, his Phone-head covered in green and brown stripes, he started to sneak around. For all intent and purpose, he still had a secret weapon in his hand…  
A deafening bang sounded through the establishment, from Mike´s side. Phone Guy dashed towards it, only to catch the last glance of an epic fight going on.  
The Purple Guy swung an AXE against Mike, who was far too close to be able to shot him. Desperately the guy tried to deflect the weapon with the steel part of his gun, but to no avail, the axe crashed in and Mike was thrown on the ground, a red stripe on his upper arm.  
Regaining his senses, Phone Guy aimed, yet the psycho had already noticed him and torn his victim back from the ground, to use as a body shield against gun.  
“PHONEY! Don´t shoot, or you gonna kill our dear Mikey… and do you REALLY want to risk killing him, just to get me poked?”  
“If it´s just poking to you, then WHY THE H-HECK DO YOU ESCALATE THIS SITUATION THAT MUCH?!”  
“Because I don´t WANNA get poked, Phoney! Now… I could break Mike´s neck-”  
“Yeah, as fucking if.”  
“-or you and Jeremy lay down your guns and get into the middle of the room.”  
Jeremy complied, his eyes widened with fear. “D-don´t hurt Mike, Mr. Vincent! W-we´re trying to help you!”  
PG acted a little slower, his metaphorical eyes locked onto Vincent´s real ones. Without a word he stepped next to his employee, crossing his arms.  
“Good… you can go now Mikey, thanks for the help!” Cheery he left the poor man out of his grip, after walking over to both weapons and stomping on them.  
“So, now to the more fun part of the day…” His voice faded out as Phone Guy started to laugh like a maniac.  
“AHAHAHA, YOU FOOL! I HAVE YOU RIGHT WHERE I WANTED YOU! YESTERDAY I PREPARED A SURPRISE FOR YOU!” In an epic movement, he raised his arm towards the ceiling, revealing a small button. The click sounded and Freddy began to glitch around.  
“ARE YOU READY FOR HECKING FREDDY AND HIS TOPHAT OF DOOM?!” The mentioned top hat clapped open and a tiny machinegun released itself. It tattered, aimed and locked right onto Vincent, who´s grin turned quite nervous.  
“Wew, lad, didn´t expect ya to pull this kind of trick… I´m impressed, I guess?”  
“AS YOU SHOULD BE! I BESTED YOU, PURPLE FIEND! SURRENDER AND YOU MIGHT NOT BE ANNIHILATED!”  
“Well… Sorry, but you can´t.”  
“What?! Excuse me?!”  
Now Vincent rose to his full height, laughing once again. “BECAUSE I OF COURSE HAVE FORSEEN THIS OCCURRENCE! AND WITH MY INDEED AMAZING TECHNICIAL ABILITIES I HAVE CHANGED THE WEAPON INTO MINE! IF YOU DARE PRESSING THIS WEAPON TO ATTACK ME, YOU AND THIS WHOLE RESTAURANT SHALL BE ASSAULTED WITH AN INSANE AMOUNT OF HOT CHEESE!”  
Mike felt his head pounding, this was far too ridiculous. “Why cheese?”  
“WHY NOT?!”  
“You don´t have to scream, we´re in the same fucking room.”  
Now Phone Guy was laughing AGAIN, pointing at his foe. “I SEE YOUR TRICKERY FRIEND, BUT YOU UNDERESTIMATED MY GENIUS! I FORTOLD THIS EVENT AND SEEN YOUR FUTILE ATTEMPS AT CREATING AN ESCAPE OUT OF MY TRAP. I SAY FUTILE, BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR LAST UNHEALTHY DAY, MY EMPLOYEE AND NEMESIS! INSTEAD OF REPARING THE SYSTEM, I CHOOSE TO FOOL YOU ONCE AGAIN AND PREPARE TWO OTHER ESPECIALLY SECRET SECRET-WEAPONS!”  
One more time he pressed another button and out of the party hats on the table helicopter blades extended themselves and as they started to fly towards the scene, a large syringe on a mechanical arm folded itself out of the bottom.  
Jeremy was amazed in every sense of the word. Even though it was highly likely that he was only dreaming and this was reenacting some of the anime he finished last night, it still felt real and was by extend as if he was in the show he loved so much. He wasn´t entirely sure which side to root for though…  
His annoyed friend seemed sick of the dream and left towards the background, middle finger raised. No one cared, the fight began.  
“NOW FREDDY FAZBEAR; THE TIME HAS COME TO SHOW OUR TRUE POWER!”  
“PARTY HATS DO MY BIDING AND FULLFILL YOUR PURPOSE!”  
In a flash the hats flyed forwards, but the cheese-gun was fast as well, forcing them to doge and try again. They were two, yet the gun was faster and without the need to change place, it had the advantage.  
One of the hats was hit and slowed by the thick layer of cheese; a second hit brought it down, gluing the blades together. It screeched all the way to the ground and tried to hit the mechanical bear on it´s way, failing and crashing in front of the stage.  
The other hat had come close though and Vincent fought it of manually, fending it off with a large metal pipe as if he was carrying a rapier. The automatic gun was unable to do anything, as it was programmed to NOT hit the purple Guard and tried it´s best to find a point where it could only aim for the enemy.  
Slowly but surely the advanced drone pushed Vincent back, but then his eyes lit up and he made a roll backwards, leaving a considerable amount of space between himself and the attacker. Immediately his machine gun began to fire and the drone hadn´t even the opportunity to doge on this close range. It was fired into the ground, drowning in a layer of bubbling cheese.  
Vincent cackled like a true Villain and turned around slowly. His shadow was enormous, through the stage light enhanced and seemed appropriately terrifying.  
“Now, now, look who is the winner… “Surrender and you might not be annihilated”? Well, I´m not that kind of guy, sorry. FREDDY! AIM AND LOCK ONTO THE PHONE! PHONEY, PREPARE FOR THIRD DEGREE BURNS AND A SMELL THAT´LL NEVER LEAVE YOU CLOTHING! I´VE WON THIS BATTLE AND THE WHOLE WAR!”  
This. This would be Jeremy´s big scene. Fate might has foretold the event, but not even fate could grasp the FULL POWER OF FRIENDSHIP! It was time to save the life of the man, who saved his before with his wise mentoring. Jeremy felt his muscles tense up as he prepared his jump, fully aware of the consequences, but ready for it anyway. The time felt as in slow motion, the tophat-gun turned AND -  
BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!  
They all jumped at this sudden amount of loud noise and the perpetrator was quickly made out; Mike, holding another gun, stood in the doorframe of the backroom, darkly grinning.  
Four syringes had buried themselves into Vincent´s back, who at first didn´t seem to be able to process the happenings, just to start scream in terror from the top of his lungs.  
“GET THEM OUT GET THEM OUT, OH GOD THEY STUNG ME, I`M GOING TO DIE THEYINFECTEDMEI´MSTUNGTHEYHAVESTUNGMETHEY´LLLAYEGGSI´MDEADI´MDEADGETTHEMOUTGETTHEMOUTPLEASEDEARGODIFEELTHEMINJECTINGME”  
Mike laughed whole heartedly. “C´mon it´s just a prank, bro! Just some medicine!” Amused he watched his co-worker, snickering, until their eyes met.  
Vincent wasn´t acting.  
Vincent was hallucinating.  
His whole body rushed cold as he recognized the shudders and the twitching.  
“IDON´TWANTTOCHANGEIDON´TWANTTOENDIDIDN´TDOWHATHESAIDDON´TPLEASEDON´TLETTHEMLAYEGGSINME”  
Jeremy was already next to him, carefully tugging the empty syringes out of the purple skin.  
“Uhm… Mr. Phone Guy, excuse me… but uh… didn´t you say more than one syringe w-would be d-deadly…?”  
The literal metal-head only shrugged. “He is going to be fine. If it would be that easy to get rid of him, I wouldn´t have wasted all my time.”  
The shooter watched them, feeling far more distant than the space between them would dictate. Silently he wondered if everything had conspired to cheat him out of the personal feel of achievement. Who would have thought that even shooting an asshole could feel bad?  
Feels, feels, feels. Get your shit together Mike, the asshat deserved it and now just shut up and feel good for yourself once.  
To distract himself form the continuous screaming, he wandered off to pet a doggo and actual found one that appeared quite friendly.  
After a while the screaming stopped and he and his new four-legged friend reentered the stage area to check on what happened. To his giant surprise Vincent was knocked out on the floor and PG and Jeremy were ARGUING.  
What a time to be alive.  
“This! T-this is NOT ethical! He was c-clearly in pain! We NEED to call an ambulance!”  
“Employee, as I told you before, these little blows do absolutely NOTHING harmful to Vincent. For Foxy´s sake he SURVIVED MUCH WORSE! HE WAS CRUZIFIED ONCE, GOSH HECKING DARN!”  
“S-SOMEONE TRIED TO CRUZIFY HIM?! THAT T-TERRIBLE! WHY WOULD ANYONE DO THAT?!”  
At this point the voice of the curly haired employee was shrill and filled with unneeded panic.  
“BECAUSE VINCENT IS THE MOST OBNOXIOUS AND DANGEROUS MAN IN THIS WHOLE ESTABLISHMENT, MAYBE EVEN IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY! AND HE JUST DOESN´T DIE!”  
The poor doggo started to wince at their loud voices and wandered between their feet, as if to protect them from each other.  
“JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE DOESN´T DIE AND IS A DANGER, IT DOESN´T MEAN YOU CAN´T BE HUMAN AND KIND TOWARDS HIM! MAYBE THERE IS A REASON FOR HIM TO BE DANGEROUS AND WE COULD HELP AND STOP HIM PEACEFULLY!”  
“THE LAST TIME SOMEONE OFFERED HIM A SNACK, HE CHOSE TO POISION HIM! AND WE STILL DON´T KNOW FREAKING WHY! HE HIMSELF SAID IT WAS JUST FOR FUN! HE IS SICK JEREMY, DEADLY SICK!”  
“EVERY SICKNESS CAN BE TREATED! IN THE LAST CENTURY, SOME DOCTORS THOUGH MENTAL DISORDERS WERE A DEATH SENTENCE! THAT CHANGED, DIDN´T IT?!”  
Mike never had seen people fight like that in his life before. It was… fascinating. They weren´t screaming at each other, their voices didn´t sound all that angry, no rather they sounded panicked and helpless, screaming only because it felt right to scream. Even their body language was all wrong, their arms just wobbeled around whenever they tried to make a point.  
The doggo was now barking hysterically as well, moving quickly between their feet.  
“WELL, SOME THINGS ARE STILL A DEATH SENTENCE! SHOW ME ONE PERSON WHO LIVES A HAPPY LIFE, WHILE HAVING-”  
It probably was an accident, but Jeremy made a step forward, forward on the body of the poor doggo. He didn´t lower his weight on top of him, but for the nervous pet it was already enough to turn around and lower his fangs into soft flesh.  
With an astounding speed, the Phone Guy grabbed the little beast, protecting the not-yet-vaccinated employee from the dangerous bite.  
He flung the dog away, not violent, but into a good distance, then held his hand, out of which blood started to ooze. The dog had already disappeared back into one of the party rooms.  
“Boss, are you alright? Didn´t expect the small fucker to go off the rails like that, geez…”  
“Oh no, I´m sorry Mr. Phone Guy, sir! You are bleeding, wait, let me get the bandages a-and something to clean the wound…”  
The Phone only chuckled, clenching his hand tightly. “Oh, oh no, Jeremy, no need, I´m fine, perfectly fine, I just have to-”  
The alarm clock on his wrist went off. “Shoot! Now we have to hurry, the restaurant needs to be opened in ten minutes… uh… give Ronaldo the starting signal and open the doors, I and Mike will get Vincent to a resting place.”  
Almost as serious as a messenger that brought news of the last battle the young Guard nodded and ran as quickly as possible towards the kitchen.  
Both of the more mature Guards lifted the personified chaos up, not exactly gently, and carried him towards the saferoom. Not the first place Mike would like to see after waking up, but honestly, Vincent DID deserve some of it.  
Most of it.  
PG sends him worried glances. “You don´t start now to defend him as well, do you? Trust me, you granted him a FAR more gentle injection than justice itself would have.”  
“Nah, don´t be worried, after he filled my whole suit with itching powder yesterday, he gets no mercy from me.”  
The boss accidently dropped the unconscious body. “HE DID WHAT?”  
“Yeah, right? As if we´re in like 5th grade or something. Stupid, childish and not a prank at all.”  
“What, what, wait, sorry, EXCUSE me, would be so kind, just in case, to repeat yourself?”  
“Couldn´t believe it either, I thought he lied to me and his prank would be to get me trouble with you. Itching powder, for fuck´s sake! I was rubbing myself inside of the suit against the wall, but it only got worse. Even after my bath I still itched!”  
“You… you did… so you… you want to tell me…”  
“Care about picking Vincent back up? We might actually kill him, if he lies on the dirty floor like that.”  
As if in a dream, PG lifted the man again, still clearly staring at Mike.  
“You… so you… didn´t feel… slight discomfort? You know, no metal pieces in your… skin?”  
“What, that can happen? Sounds pretty painful. I thought that would only happen if you get forcefully stuffed?”  
“Didn´t… you didn´t listened to the tapes, did you?”  
“C´mon, don´t give me a lecture about that crap… it can´t be that important! I know how to deal with suits! You use some fucking logic!”  
The manager of madness only starred at him for quite some time and shook his head slowly. “I get the feeling that you´re… quite the anomaly. Even for Fazbear’s.”  
“Are you insulting me?” Distrustful Mike inspected him.  
“No, honestly, I am amazed and a little worried.” He sighed and started to move again. “But let´s ignore the worries of a paranoiac, shall we?”  
Following the invitation to change topic, Mike got his next nagging thought off his chest. If he felt the need to compliment someone it would force itself out between his teeth and sound really weird, so it was easier to just get it over with.  
“It´s really cool of you to save Jeremy like that.”  
“Well, naturally!” Flattered the Phone turned his head a little. “Since he wasn´t vaccinated it would be quite stupid of me to just let him get bitten.”  
“Yeah, but you weren´t vaccinated too and still risked it, just to keep Jeremy out of trouble. I´m… kinda impressed.”  
They´ve reached the backroom and carefully lowered Vincent onto one of the old mattresses. Silently they stood next to each other, staring down.  
“So, you… uh… are sure I didn´t vaccinate myself?”  
“What kind of question is that? Of fucking course I´m sure, we did it like twenty minutes ago!”  
“Alright then… explains why I can´t feel my hands anymore.”  
Mike frowned. “Are you okay? Should we call an ambulance?”  
“NO! No, no, no need! I… haha… have a Phone for a head! What could make me sick? I´m probably unsickable!”  
“You… might want to sit down. Right now you´re spewing nonsense.”  
“To be fair, when do I not?! Perfectly fine. P-E-R-F-E-C-T-L-Y. I didn´t felt this good in years! Let´s open the place, shall we?! For all the stock-photo-kiddens in the world!”  
It was a sad attempt at walking.  
“Yeah, I´m gonna get the phone now-“  
“Rrrrrright here and PERFECTLY fine!”  
“-And call a doctor.”  
“NOOOOOOOO, NO, NOOO, NOOOOOO, NOO, NO!” In a sudden burst of energy Phone Guy flung himself on top of Mike, who was too slow to react. PG´s heat was obvious, now that he pressed about eighty percent of his body against his employee. It was really not that comfortable for someone, who´s maximum physical contact was patting someone twice, once a week.  
“Please, BOSS, control your fucking self! Get off me, you´re radiating like a fucking volcano!”  
“Bleh, get you contrrrrrol of you-self first! Your mouth is sooooooooooo ffff-f-filthy!”  
Maybe it was intended to be a mixture of mocking and scolding, but it really sounded like a drunken child.  
The grip of his companion loosened and Mike softly pushed him away. “Sit the fuck down, I´m getting you to a hospital.”  
“No!” His voice was creaky and filtered, even more so than usual. “Wwwhy! No one needs meeee perfectly fineeee! I c-can wooork. Like a besto!”  
“Listen to me, you´re gonna DIE if you don´t visit a hospital!”  
“SO WHAT?! I´m gonna die, I get replaced, I´m going to hospital, I get killed and then replaced!”  
“What gave you the impression that you would be killed at a fucking HOSPITAL?”  
“Wwwwell… I just know, u kno? I know EVERYTHING! And they´ll take mah chip and transfer mah memories to someone healthy and I´ll be the ded!”  
“That is fucking ridiculous, now let go of my hand!”  
Ripping his hand away, the healthy man turned away and headed towards the door, only to be stopped by hysterical sobbing.  
“I-I don´t wanna die, Mike! I don´t want to… I- not again… I h-hated it- I h-hate what I a-am…” Hiccups jumbled his words into even more of a mess.  
The former Night Guard turned around, watching his boss hugging himself and shaking. Today was just everyone´s bad day appearently.  
Slowly he came closer, hesitantly touching the shuddering being, uncomfortable with the idea of being an emotional support, but guilty enough to start petting the terrified guy.  
“Fine, I won´t call anyone. Just come with me into the office, alright? So I can fix your wounds and keep an eye on Jeremy as well.”  
The fingers of the sick manager clawed into Mike´s shirt, his condition was obviously worsening. Was it really better to let him decide on the ambulance-thing? He probably didn´t even knew what they were talking about….  
No, don´t get weak now. He asked for it and Mike wasn´t the type to meddle with anyone´s life. If he died because he denied the opportunity of help, then he died by his own choice.  
This decision started shake, after he discovered the foam coming out of the receiver. Luckily enough, the office was only three doors away and Jeremy was nowhere to be seen.  
“Are you sure…”  
“Gimme, gimme, gimme the antibiotics… and soooome… bandages… and sum water…”  
Compliant he handed over the requested items out of an oversized medical-aid box that was hidden under the table. After swallowing a variety of pills, the boss slowly sacked into himself and started snoring.  
Jesus fucking Christ, now he was supposed to patch him up, right?! Fucking hell, as if he was careful enough to do that!  
A check on the cameras revealed that Jeremy was too busy to come in to help though. Customers had already started to pour in and he had to deal with every little whim.  
Mike took a deep breath. If the Phone hasn´t overdosed already, he was surely drugged enough to not able to feel anything anymore. Might as well give it a shot.  
He cleaned the wound with the water, gave some of the antibiotics on the bandages and began to wrap it tightly around the bite. It was impressive what those creatures could still do to flesh, even if they were domesticated over generations.  
Now what?  
Was he supposed to sit by his site until he woke up?  
What would happen if it turned midnight?  
Would he have to defend both of them?  
That was a kind of responsibility he wasn´t ready to face.  
Maybe he should get his “patient” onto a bed or relaxing chair and get him in a stable condition, what ever the fuck that meant. Wasn´t there something about being able to choke on your own tongue?  
Well… either he had no need to worry about that, or he would have no ability to stop that anyway.  
Carefully, as to not wake his boss, he lowered the backrest, until it looked remotely comfortable.  
Phone Guy´s breathe turned stable and relaxed as well, so Mike saw his duty as done, at least for a while. He couldn´t help but to be curious now… how did PG´s body work? It seemed as if his receiver would replace ear and mouth, while the dial had the ability to catch light and function as his eyes. How did he even get a phone for a head? If what he said in his fever was true, he probably got into an accident that harmed his head and brought him close to death. Made sense to use metal to save his life, but why a phone? Wouldn´t almost everything make a better substituted? A screen could show a face a hundred times better and if you wanted to get real precise, the endoskeletons had pretty snazzy heads as well, if you could get used to it.  
A small disgusted snicker rose form his throat as he imagined PG with an endoskeleton as head.  
Hello, hello employee! Sorry, my left eye is glitching, don´t mind it!  
Somehow, despite being nothing but a phone, it felt right for his personality. It made him somewhat… likeable. Gave him… character.  
Christ on a bicycle, he was going nuts again. Yes, Mike, phones are likeable and have character. Next to the fact, that the “likeable” Guy was a fucking psycho as well, not closing this shitty restaurant despite obvious danger and harming everyone around him just to keep it like that.  
How crazy would you need to be to remind someone to RESPECT the monsters that tried to KILL you?!  
Yes, Phone Guy was a delusional asshole. No sympathy, no reason to care about him.  
Why was he even still here? He should get out there and do something more interesting.  
On the door he halted once again, turning slightly to watch his co-worker sleep. It was unusual to see him as calm as he was now, not fiddling with his hands or looking around, nervous.  
Step after step Mike returned to the second seat, next to the figure.  
Maybe he should at least draw on him, to justify his stay.  
Wait, drawing! Pranking!  
Didn´t he still needed to give Vincent some payback?!  
Yesterday he made the perfect plan and bought everything he needed…  
One last time he controlled the breath of the unconscious man and after determining that it was safe enough, left once more towards the saferoom.  
No one interrupted him, as he carried a large bucket of water and no one watched him getting the towel as well.  
About half an hour later, he left satisfied with the results. Of course, the prank would only be successful if Vincent actually MINDED what he had done, but a brother could hope.  
“Hey, PG, you awake? Guess what I did to Vincent!”  
That were his words, entering the office, planning on lighten the mood of the fevering guy, the only problem was that the office was now fucking EMPTY.  
Shit on a biscuit, where and why the fuck did he go?  
Slightly worried Mike checked both hallways, without any result, the whole main area, without any result and just as he decided to call his Phone-head to at least get any kind of clue if the delirious man was still in the building, he saw him stumbling out of the bathroom.  
“FOR FUCK´S SAKE, WHAT DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?!”  
“Not puking onto my keyboard…”  
“Shit, wasn´t there some kind of trashcan?! You could have broken your fucking neck on the way out here!”  
“Please Employee, keep your voice down, I feel an indescribable amount of pain in my receiver and would like to not puke again out of sheer pain.”  
A tad guilty he tried to keep his volume as low as possible. “Fine, sorry, now get the fuck over here, I´ll bring you back to the office.”  
Carefully he supported Phone Guy by taking his arms around his shoulder and basically carrying him back on the chair. Wait, how can someone with literal metal as body parts be this light?  
“How does your body work PG? It´s the weirdest thing ever.”  
“Do you honestly want an explanation? Now?”  
“Yes, why not? It´s not like there´s anything better to do.”  
“I´m sure you don´t actually care, so I give you the shortened version: the metal part of my body is connected, via the electronical nature of nerves. It´s all getting hooked up to a…” Tired he reached down the underside of his head. “… it´s… somewhat similar to a computer, problem solving and all… but… controlled by my… personality, or soul, or whatever… right here.” He raised his head enough to show a keypad, probably for the safety of the chip. Afterwards he gagged. “Do we REALLY have to do that now…? Thinking hurts…”  
“Alright, then let´s do something that doesn´t involve thinking. What´s the animatronic you can identify with most?” The question was stupid, yes, there was literally no reason to ask it, no advantage anyone would get from it, but he needed to bring the guy to talk. It was the only way to distract oneself from pain sometimes.  
“Freddy. Overworked and underappreciated.”  
“Heh, c´mon we appreciate you. I mean, Jerry sees you as this mystical mentor and respects you like shit.”  
“…Jeremy is really sweet. I´m so sorry that I hired him. Normally I try to remind myself that all employees are guilty in one way or another, but with him it´s hard.”  
“What?”  
“How is he doing right now? I shouldn´t leave him in the middle of a busy day…”  
Annoyed Mike pushed him back into the seat, before he even could rise to a quarter.  
“Man, if you go out there in you condition, there will probably be a terrible catastrophe. Not on my watch.”  
Letting himself fall back into the seat, PG laughed. “Speaking of regretting hiring people. You´re really… quite the guy yourself. Not what I expected at all. Staying around me, even though I´m sick… thank you.”  
“Don´t get any fucking ideas, I´m just trying to doge work.”  
“Haha… and asking for favorite animatronic is part of it? I´m not this stupid, Mike and I know how to calm people down.”  
Embarrassed the Guard growled. “Believe me when I say, I would let you die if it was more convenient for me.”  
“With that you´re showed that you are more sensible and kind-hearted than the other employees in the building. I think half of them would let me die for fun.”  
“Well, I met worse bosses than you to be entirely honest.”  
“Wow, your life was sh—crap.”  
“Shit.”  
“Crap.”  
Once again Mike managed to talk himself into a verbal circle. How did that always happen?!  
“Don´t beat yourself up that much. Despite protecting a franchise that doesn´t care about human life, loving murderous machines and using more euphemism then the Nazis… you know what, I stay on my point. You´re a fucked up boss, but at least courteous.”  
“Gee, now I feel better, thanks Mr. Insulting.”  
“No probs, friend.”  
“Friend?” Chuckling he raised his body. Mike didn´t stop him, since he appeared already much better. Was this an effect of the metal?  
“Trying my best to be as respectless as possible.”  
“I never had any friends… not even pets. Just between us, I´m happy that the doggos were shipped off into different location instead of a shelter.”  
Mike considered making fun of him, but well, it was hard to make fun of something you had to go through just as much. Yes, they probably shared some equally as unpleasant memories.  
As the pause stretched longer and longer, the awkwardness of his boss became clearer. Desperately trying to change topic, he started the next best thing he could think of.  
“So… while we´re at this… who´s your… animatronic?”  
Shortly the younger one considered not answering… but that would be unfair, wouldn´t it?  
“Dunno, I never really care about them too much. If I had to choose, I´d said… Foxy. Just because I also want to bite people in my personal space.”  
Now Phone Guy was full on snickering.  
“Yeah, go ahead and bite me!” He began reaching jokingly out for him, just to burst out into full on laughter as the other one jumped back. “You really remember me of that one cat in my neighborhood. The cat followed me around and sometimes even mewled at me, but whenever I reached over in it´s general direction, it bolted away as if I tried to slaughter it.”  
Sighing he leaned back down once more. “Maybe it followed me around because I looked so weird. Cats are assholes after all.”  
“Heh, so maybe Candy is my real soul-matronic after all.”  
“EXCUSE YOU?!” Phone Guy was up in a split second, to Mike´s shock. “You better take that back, or I´ll fire you for traitorous thoughts!”  
“For the love of fuck, it was a joke, why the fuck would I ever feel the actual need to identify with any fucking murder machine?”  
This calmed his boss a bit, but he still sat up. “Don´t you dare ever mentioning Candy´s in this restaurant ever again, or I´ll consider strangling you, despite you being quite helpful.”  
“I can´t even find swears for that… wait let me try… cocks and bollocks inside of a toaster roasted by Satan on spikes. Here I was thinking that you were the stable person of the restaurant.”  
“Whatever gave you that idea?”  
“Maybe the fact that you usually talk like you have a stick up your ass.”  
They locked gaze for a moment and for the first time Mike got the feel that eye contact didn´t needed to be solely for threats.  
On the other hand, can you call staring at a phone dial really eye contact?  
Now he felt weird again. Why did socializing always end this way?  
Time to escape. “Do you feel better now? Maybe I should check up on Jeremy… just in case.”  
“Do not worry; I will come with you.”  
“Already?”  
“Yeah, my body is resilient. Some of the perks when your brain is never in danger.”  
They left the second safest place of the pizzeria and returned to the main area. The place was humming with activity and the smell of pizza was overwhelming. All in all a quite wholesome scene.  
“Now that we are back on track… Employee, get into your suit and perform for the customers.”  
“WHAT?”  
“You heard me.”  
“You´re fucking kidding me, aren´t you?”  
“It isn´t that hard to get rid of itching powder. Do that, but afterwards I want to see you by the stage.”  
“Fuck you. I wished you killed yourself.”  
“It isn´t that bad for you, stop whining. At least you´ll be loved for the first time in your life.”  
If there hadn´t been the small hint of laughter behind those words, then he might actually have been hit by it. Now though he could only laugh, impressed that PG had actually the balls to say something like that.  
“Woah, my heart. If you continue, I´ll might be the one who needs nursing next time.”  
“I´ll gladly provide. Now get moving.”  
Before he could follow the request though, the door to parts and services flew open and a distressed Vincent ran out, all his hair had been completely dyed pink.  
“Your doing, employee?”  
“Yep.”  
“Nice.”  
“MIKE, WHAT THE FUCK, THIS IS TOO CRUEL! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO MAINTAIN THIS BEAUTIFUL MANE?”  
Satisfied Mike screamed back. “DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET ITCHING POWDER OUT OF YOUR CLOTHES?”  
“FIEND! I SHALL FUCK YOU UP FOR THIS ONE!”  
“JUST TRY LOSER!”  
Phone Guy looked from one to another, then only said in a disapproving tone; “This will most certainly not end well for you. But you know that, don´t you?”  
“Pff, he can´t get me. I know much better than that.”  
The light-hearted mood had vanished and the Phone only turned away. “Well. I sure hope so. Now hurry and get ready, we have a long day in front of us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “IF YOU WANNA KILL ME, USE A TOMMY GUN BABY!” (Royal Republic – Tommy Gun)  
> Exams are eating away on my life force, so any kind of positivity is greatly appreciated, before I go into my winter-depression. Well, at least the music helps.  
> Am I doing too much exposition? I really doubt my writing…  
> Sure hope you enjoyed it! I´ll try to have the next chapter as Halloween “special”, since it will go great with the whole pranking-affair. Until then, have a great time!


	6. Halloween at Freddy´s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It´s Halloween at Freddy´s  
> All of the guest have arrived.  
> Everyone´s dying to meet you…  
> So please try not to cry.”  
> Halloween at Freddy´s - TryHardNinja

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! I love this time of year! Best Holiday in the world!  
> So, this contains one more time slightly altered lyrics of Halloween at Freddy´s by TryHardNinja, check it out if you want special little music treat for the day!  
> I love the music community of Fnaf… they´re AWESOME.

Another busy day had passed and another part of Mike´s soul was burning and crashing out of sheer hatred for life. There was no particular reason for it; it was just the lack of energy that made him irritable.  
This didn´t excused, but explained his small overreaction as he saw Vincent carrying a bag full of pumpkins.  
“What the literal FUCK are you thinking you´re doing?!”  
Surprised the man stopped in his tracks, looked between him and the bag back and forth and shrugged in an even more carefree way. “Pumpkins, baby! It´s HALLOWEEN! HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEN!”  
“Fuck Halloween and fuck you. What the fuck is so special about Halloween anyway?! It´s just a stupid excuse for edgy teenager and weird adults, who still live with their parents, to dress up like a lunatics and act all delusional.”  
Snickering the Purple Guy laid the bag down and came closer, much to Mike´s disapproving. “You clearly don´t know the true meaning of Halloween!”  
“STOP RIGHT THERE! I´VE SEEN THE START OF ENOUGH SHITTY CHRISTMAS MOVIES! LEAVE RIGHT NOW, OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!”  
“Woah, lighten up! You´re chronically under-fucked. When was the last time you got laid?” Swiftly he avoided the fist coming towards him and continued. “Don’t be a debby-downer! This is most certainly NOT the start of a bad Christmas movie, because since when were dead bodies and demons allowed in them?”  
“If it makes profit, it´s allowed and exists.”  
“Ah, is capitalism not a wonderful thing?” Shortly the white-eyed employee drifted off, but returned soon enough. “What were we talking about again? Oh yeah, movies. Well, I won´t force you to learn ANYTHING about Halloween… but knowledge is power. By the way, even if you don´t care about it… you better appear in a costume tomorrow… or I´ll trick ya!” Bemused Vincent winked at him and continued with his actions.  
“You know what?! I´d rather KILL MYSELF than degrade myself in this disgusting way. And while we´re at tricking… how long did it take to get your hair back to almost normal, cunt? I still see some pink streaks by the way.”  
“You asked for it!” Not fazed in his good mood the man vanished into the kitchen, most likely to carve out some sp00ky faces.  
Mike was now mildly intrigued, as well as slightly calmer and once Phone Guy entered the main area, he called him over. “Heya PG, short question: Is it even allowed to celebrate Halloween around here? I mean, with the constant string of literal MURDERS?”  
“It is the perfect promotion for this kind of restaurant. About half of our customers probably only come for the creep-factor…. if we´re talking about the older ones that is.”  
The more sarcastic of the two shortly inspected his boss, weighing risk and reward of his next question. Curiosity killed the cat… but satisfaction brought it back.  
“… Tell me, honestly. This deal with abducted kids and shit… did that actually happen… at least when you were working here?”  
Silence stretched into eternity.  
“No. It´s been… a long time.”  
“That´s what I thought-”  
Without warning his head felt as if it was burning, his vision went blurry.  
Liar, liar, pants on fire.  
“What did you say? Sorry, I just… spaced out.”  
“I didn´t say anything.”  
Curious and a little worried his boss reached out for his forehead, an advancement that was immediately pushed away. The anger was coming back, twice as strong as before and Mike didn´t wanted Phone Guy of all people to be the victim of it.  
“Guess I´m just going crazy then. Now, is there anything left to do, or can I finally rest a bit before I start the nightshift?”  
“… Your nightshift is tomorrow, Mike. Are you sure you feel alright?”  
“FUCK feels! Leave me alone, I… need a break. It has been a long day. See you tomorrow.”  
Maybe his metal-headed superior was hurt by this sudden attack, but Mike couldn´t care less. At least that was what he had to believe.  
“Of course… rest well. Tomorrow is another day.”  
“Yeah. Another one.”  
Disheartened Phone Guy watched him leaving. In a way, Mike was a liability with his mood swings and uncomfortable similar to Vincent… but at least Mike actually CARED about things.  
While at the topic of liabilities, where the heck was Vincent right now?  
After a short search he heard noises from the kitchen worth to check out.  
“Good, good, Jeremy, just like that. The knife needs to hit the core, or else it´s wasted. Let it out Jeremy, let all out and use your full force. Kill it. Kill it good.”  
A slicing was to be heard, followed by Vincent´s triumphant cheering. “YOU DID IT! NOW DO IT AGAIN! JUST ONE MORE TIME AND HE´S DONE FOR!”  
What were they DOING in there!? There was no way in he- heaven…  
The first thing the Phone saw, while slamming open the doors, was the short flash of worry on the Purple Guard´s face, the second thing was an unholy mess of pumpkin-innards. Before he could scold them though, he caught the sight of Jeremy´s dazzling smile. Never before he´d seen the shy boy actually seem confident enough to show this kind of emotion.  
“Mr. Phone Guy! I´m learning how to make jack-o´-lanterns! Isn´t that great?”  
“Didn´t your mom teach you that?”  
Embarrassed the smile disappeared, making Phone Guy want to kick himself in the butt.  
“Well… my mom… a-and my dad… somehow got the impression that it was the devil´s birthday… so we never celebrated it.”  
“Heh, lemme tell ya, your parents are stupid!”  
“Please don´t say that Mr… uh s-sorry, only-Vincent. It´s not nice. They were just… religious.”  
Seeing how uncomfortable the conversation was to the boy, Phoney quickly changed topic. “So… what are you carving into the pumpkins? Please nothing too offensive this time, depictions of dead, mangled bodies are not an appropriate motive.”  
“Customers were scared, weren´t they?”  
“Yes, but that is NOT what we were aiming for! A small spook is very different from actually terrifying them.”  
“Bleh, bleh, the Phone knows everything! Shut the fuck up, Phoney, we got it! Only soft-core shit!”  
“Almost forgot that we now have two disrespectful, foul-mouthed employees here.”  
With three dots as a face, Jeremy had listen to the conversation, but decided to weigh in, now that he feared it ending in a whole debate. “M-Mr. Phone Guy? Would you like to join us? We could decide together on what to put on the pumpkin…?”  
“That is too kind of you Jeremy. Yes, I would love to help.”  
But Vincent wasn´t having any of it. “Forget it, you two can do it, Imma go home and sleep. Lost interest.”  
A short impulse of violence hit Phone Guy´s core. Why was Vincent like that? For what reason could he have ruined the fun of the perfectly innocent employee? Ultimately he thought better of it. There was nothing violence would do to improve the situation.  
After the annoyance left the room, Phone Guy tried his best to cheer Jeremy back up. “Don´t mind him, he is quite moody. Tomorrow he will probably have a great idea in store for us and scare us all.” At least he would, like every day, manage to frighten him.  
“You´re right Mr. Phone Guy, he is great when it comes to cheer up himself and others!”  
“That’s… one way to put it… Now, where did you leave off? We managed to clean the inside, now I´ll show you how to properly carve it, alright?”  
“Thank you! I can´t wait!”  
While the more sane workers were kept busy, the unstable Guard silently opened a window in the bathroom and left for the night.  
The night air was cool and full of promises. Spirits were already restlessly wandering the streets; he could feel them brush past him, as they were waiting for the lone night of freedom, aching for it just as much as he was.  
Henry made fun of him every year. But he still… celebrated with him.  
And it was time to share that joy. Especially if he wanted to shock Mikey~  
Once he entered his home, he routinely sighed at the sight of his picture wall. If Old Sport or Henry were here… it would be… heaven.  
Keep a positive attitude, he reminded himself, Old Sport will appear sooner or later… and for that he had a much better surprise in store.  
Ready to sleep a little, he set the alarm clock to six thirty and sorted out what he would need.  
Screwdriver, springs, wires… and of course, the costumes!  
Heh, he sure hoped they would enjoy the show tomorrow…  
It felt like seconds until the clock started to rang.  
Oh boi, today was goin´ to be great!  
That was one way to see it.  
Mike represented the complete opposite.  
The headache had grown worse overnight and his dreams were sickening. Something about getting strangled and stabbed.  
Naturally, once he finally managed to fall out of bed, the last thought on his mind was dressing up. Probably he should just have covered himself in fake blood and would have been a great zombie, but that thought came too late, next to the fact that he wouldn´t cave in to an asshole´s demands.  
What could they do anyway? Scorn him? Pff, ridiculous. There was no way in hell anything bad could actually happen.  
As he arrived, he first noticed that every light was inactive. Secondly he noticed how retarded it was to have a GIANT ROOM WITHOUT ANY WINDOWS. Who´s design was this?!  
It was strangely silent, as if there was something swallowing all sound.  
Mike knew he wouldn´t scream. Vincent would jump on him in the lamest prank ever, he would break his nose and the day would be able to continue.  
His whole body tensed up as he prepared for the attack. Yes, he was prepared for any type of screaming and touching imaginable.  
What he wasn´t prepared for, was the distorted version of the toreador march and the low laughing. Freddy shouldn´t be active right now.  
And if he still was active now… then what happened to PG?  
Slowly he crept forward, his hands reached into the dark, as he tried to unsuspiciously get away from the source of noise.  
Then his hands hit something big, made out of fur and metal.  
“Fuck.”  
Then they ignited.  
Before him stood a giant nightmare out of metal and teeth, a demonic perversion of the mascot. Parts and bits were ripped open, showing the metal edges inside, as well as a flickering light. This nightmarish Freddy laughed once again, only to slowly bow down and open his maw, revealing that behind those teeth were even more teeth.  
Mike was unable to move, paralyzed with fear, while the monster reached out for him, to grab him and swallow him whole. In the last second his mind snapped back to reality and every last bit of energy mobilized itself, as he made an unholy noise and aimed at the fire-filled eyes of the beast, in hopes of irritating it at least. The claws were burying themselves into his hips; warm liquid started to stain his sides, but the head turned away and gave him precious seconds to struggle free.  
Screeching the thing let him drop to the ground, holding its eyes, while Mike panicked crawled away backwards, filled with anger.  
This wasn´t the place where he would die.  
Behind him loud, high-pitched cackling was to be heard and teeth dug themselves into his shoulder, blinding pain tore his thoughts apart, as he started to roll on the ground, in hopes of shaking whatever-it-was off of him. Successful, he jumped up, tripping over the clinging teeth, of what appeared to be once a cupcake.  
Now three more pairs of eyes shined through the night and Freddy laughed as slowly the whole crew cornered the Guard, who desperately missed his baseball-bat, which he hid in the saferoom.  
“Listen up shitheads, hadn´t we already a fucking talk about killing?! THAT IT´S FUCKING USELESS?! WHAT`S UP WITH YOUR SHITTY MOOD SWINGS?! DESPITE HAVING LITERAL FIRE INSIDE OF YOU, YOU AREN´T VERY ´BRIGHT´!”  
Hell yeah, famous last words! While his brain´s wires had a short circuit, he wondered if he was the first person to have a pun in his last words. As if that mattered in any way imaginable. Or was he maybe still dreaming?  
He fought with hands and feet, but the metal was too resilient. Once more he was picked up like a toddler, the maw of the beast opened once more to the void and slowly, but surely, he was forced headfirst into it. The sharp edges begun already to cut his hands and head, but the pushing-  
Stopped.  
“HOLY SHIT! BRIGHT!? MIKEY, YOU MADMAN! WHAT THE FUCK, YOU PUN WHEN YOU ARE SCARED!?” The lights turned on, as Vincent revealed himself, holding his stomach that ached from laughing. “YOU´RE AMAZING! WHERE WERE YOU ALL MY LIFE?!”  
“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! THESE THINGS ARE NIGHTMARES! THEY ARE DANGEROUS! IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE A PRANK?!”  
Now a bit calmed, the Trickster pushed a button and the machines backed off. “Well, you shot me with needles for fun. I think we´re even.”  
“NO! FUCK YOURSELF! I COULD HAVE DIED! HEART ATTACK! I`M B L E E D I N G, YOU PSYCHO!”  
“Doesn´t look like it to me.” He crocked his head to one side, more curious than challenging.  
Really, Mike checked and there were only small scratches on his sides.  
Weird… he could have sworn he felt blood.  
On the other hand, he didn´t bleed since his childhood, so maybe his skin was just that tough.  
“Well, doesn´t excuse your fucking attempt on my life. You will pay, I promise.”  
“Can´t wait darling~”  
“You´re disgusting filth and I absolutely hate you.”  
“Aww, you´re so sweet!”  
Luckily, before the interaction could again result in violence, Phone Guy reentered the scene, freshly charged.  
“What is going on employees?!” Startled he jumped as he saw the animatronics. “Holy f-frick! Vincent! What were you thinking? When did you DO that? Are this the old models?”  
“It´s Halloween at Freddy´s! If we get to dress up, why not the mascots? C´mon Phoney, think of the publicity this will have!”  
Mike weighed in. “The fuck, PG, this isn´t safe for ANYONE! They could kill a kid, just by hugging it!”  
Clearly uncomfortable the guy turned his head. “Mike, Vincent, while we´re at costumes, where are yours?”  
“ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?! YOU SEE DEATH-MACHINES AND YOUR FIRST WORRY IS THAT WE DIDN`T PUT ON STUPID CLOTHING?!”  
“It´s in the saferoom, b0ss, I´ll be ready in a minute.”  
“Mike, we are always looking at death machines, though I might should congratulate you for suppressing that memory. I´m envious, honestly.”  
“FUCKING FINE! My costume is the fucking disappointment of my mother, I´m wearing it twenty-four-seven.”  
Angrily he left the area, to check out the robots. If he had to life with them, he should at least know what he had to deal with.  
Unwillingly he admitted silently that they were masterpieces. The fur and metal was perfectly used to catch and play with the light inside of the robots and gave them an eerie atmosphere, even when they stood still. The teeth had small lights between them, appearing like glimmer of fire sparks that had lost their way back into the robot.  
Curiously Mike slowly reached inside the monsters mouth, hoping that Bonnie wouldn´t have a hissy fit and checked the insides out. Even there were careful placed spikes and edges. What use it brought was a mystery though, since you wouldn´t be able to see them.  
Afterwards he felt the fur (soft enough to feel like a real animal) and the strength of the metal (far more then needed). While feeling the hands, he noticed tiny carvings. He turned said hand and found a small signature.  
`All your friends used to run away  
on your favorite fright filled day  
but if all you want to do is play  
I will be the one to stay´  
`- For William Afton. Happy Halloween! ´  
So, this was premade… huh. For one of the previous maker of the animatronics.  
What a sick guy that must have been.  
He still is.  
Nausea hit Mike once more, as his brain tried to split itself in two halves. “W-who is there?!”  
Silence, the same sound sucking silence as before. There wasn´t NOTHING here, no, it was something that drained every piece of air and light out of the room.  
Uncomfortable he returned back to the main-area, where Jeremy had joined the party and admired his newly costumed co-worker.  
“Wow, Mr. Phone Guy, your scars look so real! Is this Frankenstein´s Monster? It looks amazing! And M- Vincent! Are you a vampire? You look so scary and elegant!”  
“I´m not only a vampire, I´m a COMMUNIST vampire, who makes even more communist vampires! Terrifying, isn´t it? Looking snazzy yourself, I have to admit… nice touch with the hair.”  
This was stupid.  
“Enough with the cocksucking! I see a regular fucking Freddy-Nightguard, a colorblind kid that found mommy´s wardrobe and a fucking furry!”  
“I-I´m a werewolf! A-and what´s even wrong with b-being-”  
“Like I said a fucking furry. Didn´t you have better imagination than just to buy dog ears out of the next sex-shop and tape a tail on your ass?”  
“I have you know that I made everything myself! And what about my leaf-decorated hair?! And the torn clothing?!”  
“You look like a stripper who fell into a bush.”  
Vincent wriggled his eyebrow. “Something you seem to be an expert on!”  
“Fuck you.”  
“Employees. Please. Jeremy, shall we turn on the pumpkins?”  
“Oh yes! Vincent, Mike! We finished the carving last night and look! It came out great!”  
Excited the young man ran for the kitchen and brought forth multiple pumpkins. Some showed eyes and sp00ky teeth, others showed the mascots, conveniently similar to what they were changed into, minus the jaws.  
Kicking himself, Mike tried to show some positivity. “Wow and this is what you spend your night with? Worth it.” At least he could use hidden sarcasm.  
“Even though it was my first time doing something like that, it went so well!”  
Now Mike was actually impressed. “Honestly? Your first time? Okay, you seem to have found your talent.”  
Jeremy glowed with pride and it warmed Mike´s small black heart.  
PG nodded in agreement, just as satisfied. “He is amazing with his hands! So concentrated and calm… if he wouldn´t work here, I would say he could become a doctor!”  
Vincent irritated interrupted. “Am I the only one who hears the sexual innuendos?” He was most certainly not prepared for two death stares at once.  
“YES. Now (fucking) hush it!” Phone Guy and Mike said almost in full synchrony.  
Insulted pouting followed as the Guard left to the entrance. “Well, you don´t have to get so angry, it´s just a joke! Imma open the doors now, if that is alright with you.”  
“Fine, I doubt that there will be someone already though…” As the Phone caught Mike´s confused glance, he stared to explain. “On this special day, Vincent is the perfect man to greet the customers. He will also be allowed to tell stories… under my supervision of course.”  
“No wonder he was this excited. It´s basically a get-out-of-jail-free card for him, am I right? He can almost do whatever he wants.”  
“Not exactly… but close enough.”  
This wasn´t the most insuring answer, so he rather followed Vincent, than letting him run wild. His worries were only strengthened as he saw that the psycho was sitting and cackling to himself.  
Silently he stood beside him, pretending to only study the special activities for today.  
-Hide and Seek with Freddy and Bonnie – Better be careful, or you´ll be taken! (14-15 o´clock)  
-Scary stories with Chica and Foxy – for a night without sleep! (15-16 o´clock)  
-Catch with Foxy and Bonnie – the loser gets eaten! (16-16:30 o´clock)  
-Free interaction/Special requests. Ask your scary friends anything! (17-18 o´clock)  
The legality and safety was… questionable at best, but why should he care?  
All of a sudden Vincent turned around. “Mike? Are you alright after your fall? Did you lose anything?”  
Quickly Mike patted over his pockets. His keys, his wallet, his pills…  
The pills.  
A purple hand reached over, presenting the bottle. “You should be more careful… I assume these are kinda important for your life.”  
This was disgusting. If Vincent made a “prank” out of this, he promised himself, he would hide needles inside his opponent´s lunch.  
Slowly he accepted the bottle and returned it to his pocket. There was no way in hell he would take this kind of risk. Thankfully he still had another bottle inside his closet in the saferoom. So, time for a little stroll.  
On his way there he passed the prize corner, where Matt stood in a clown costume.  
On a good day, the prize corner had about ten customers. Today it would have none.  
The real day began around one o´clock, when the first children started to wander in. Excited they screeched at the new costumes and the jack-o’-lanterns. Everyone ran for their favorite animatronics to marvel at their new look and slightly altered personality… and yes, they even pestered the Guards.  
Jeremy was surrounded by other werewolves and nagged into playing with them.  
Mike wished he would get a cent for every time someone asked him something costume related, or whenever he was forced to explain his clothing. It would make the experience less painful.  
Phone Guy had mostly adults complimenting his appearance; kids were more worried than impressed.  
And Vincent… Vincent was alone. The kids seemed to avoid him, or rather his smile. But it wasn´t his fault… he was simply caught in the most beautiful of memories: Henry´s first costume.  
First his friend was dismissive, saying it was a waste of time to celebrate anything that wasn´t success, but the next day he appeared, head to toe bloody, a bloody bag on his back.  
The people around him applauded the impressive trickery and he explained them a fairly long recipe for false blood. Afterwards he wrapped his arm around Vincent to tell him that there was an actual dead body in his back, whose smell he had neutralized.  
Henry was just the best.  
What would Old Sport have done as costume? Maybe a pirate, seeing how he idolized Foxy. Or maybe they would have gone in matching clothes! As Death and his only defiant victim, the Zombie.  
Dreamy he sighed, numbing the pain of his deficit by simply repressing it and living in his dream world.  
While at repressing…  
A more sinister thought crept in his head and his grin widened as he watched the already distressed Guard dealing with children and adults alike.  
Curious what pills could do to your body. Better you don´t take them at all.  
His eyes started to wander around, noticing the huge gap between him and everyone else. This… this was probably because someone special was watching him.  
Amused he snickered, wandering off to the prize corner. Matt only raised his eyebrow.  
“Heya, Matt. I´ll take over your shift, alright? So we can make at least SOME money.”  
This was a lie, but a superficial one out of courtesy and Matt knew and understood. He left the place without any words to him. Thank god for that.  
The crowd was distracted by today´s show. Perfect.  
Softly he knocked on the box. “Puppet my dear, how you´re doing on this beautiful day?”  
William Afton. Your loneliness must be crippling on this day, on which you wanted to celebrate to your hearts content. But as the saying goes, I would prefer to be alone than in bad company.  
“Why you gotta do me like this, sweetheart? I just wanna help you!”  
So you finally made the decision to end your own existence. It is appreciated, even if I would prefer to rip the life from your body by myself.  
“If I only could, my old friend. No, the matter is something else. I wanted to show you something… a little present for the machines tomorrow. You can´t see it in your box and even if you could, you wouldn´t understand it, but… it´s a device capable to give your friends a voice!”  
With a voice, you mean only another, slightly enhanced word program, which does nothing expect allowing pre-generated words to be said?  
“Oh no, the real deal! Well, one little barrier so you won´t tell our little secret, but it´s good enough. I finally found out your secret my dear poopet and I´m ready for you to admit defeat.”  
You found your own secret Mr. Afton, but about me you are not any wiser.  
“You´re really stubborn for a dead kid, you know? Whatever. In that case, if you aren´t surprised enough, let me tell you… this isn´t a present in the Halloween-spirit, no it´s a goodbye-present. I found a way to replace all your friends. I know I can´t get rid of you, but I finally have the perfect plan to take away the last bit of power from you.”  
Replace… Whatever could you mean? They are ghosts; the endoskeleton would never be able to absorb another soul.  
“There´s the joke! No new souls in old bodies, new souls in new, ADVANCED bodies! Souls that understand the joy of creation… unlike you ungrateful brat!”  
Understand the joy of creation… There is simply no possibility this would be achievable. No human child would ever follow a monster like you. If that was possible, how do you explain the eternal resistant of the five children?  
“Who knows? They might encourage each other to this stupid decision. Well, you don´t have to believe me… Actions speak louder than words after all. I´m gonna go now, it starts to get interesting around Mike! Bai!”  
Satisfied he left his old nemesis and tried to find Mike. On his way he was distracted by the stories Foxy was telling. There was one about five children visiting a ghost ship. Ah, the pirate fox was adorable, always coming up the adventures he imagined himself and his friends to go on. Really, it was no wonder that Foxy attracted people… he was a dream catcher.  
“Foxy, where is the part where the demon came to offer them immortality?”  
The silence was answer enough. What an unthankful beast. Well, he would tell the story on his own then.  
On the other end of the pizzeria was Mike having a bad day. Jeremy tried his best to cheer him up, but even his cheeriness didn´t relieve the cold inside his fingers and the constant shuddering in his shoulders.  
He had already taken one of his back-up pills, but the feeling simply didn´t vanish, making him assume he was getting some normal kind of sickness. It was getting colder after all.  
Slowly, but surely, Jeremy´s good natured attempts at helping were even worse than the feeling itself, so he excused himself and wandered towards the main area. It was song time; the animatronics were singing and moving in their choreographed way, singing slightly more spooky songs than usual and glitching out here or there.  
Someone tugged on his leg. It was a young girl with a Chica-mask. Why would she wear that at Halloween? It was fitting to him, but… some people just missed the point of Halloween.  
“Yeah, what do you want?” If she would ask him why he wasn´t wearing a costume, he would scream from the top of his lungs.  
“E-excuse me… sir? Would you play with us?” She waved towards four other children, all wearing masks. One even wore a Fredbear mask, despite that being fairly old merchandise.  
“How about no? Ask my co-worker Jeremy over there, he will gladly play with you.”  
The Foxy-masked one was jumping up and down, raging. “But we want to play with you!”  
The Freddy-masked one tried to calm him. “Then we don´t play. It will be fine.”  
“But I wanna play with him!”  
Bonnie-mask weighed in, crocking his head to the side. “Maybe he is just scared of losing.”  
Mike was immediately set off. “Excuse me, who do you think you are?!”  
“Bonnie the Bunny, the first one!”  
He should have known better than to expect actual fucking answers from kids.  
The one with the golden mask laid his hand on the shoulder of his friend and shortly took a look at Mike. His eyes were an odd shade of blue.  
But the Foxy was the next one to attack the Guard. “Yeah, why don´t you hide in your office, you… y-you´re a LOSER, Mike!”  
“FUCK YOU!” His anger was free of its usual bounds, but Mike kept it as a sort of motivation. “Fu- fine. What the fuck do you want to play?”  
Excited the little girl started to jump up and down. “I wanna play cards! I´m very good at it!”  
“No, no! We play hide and seek!”  
“No, I want to play catch!”  
The Freddy sighed and shook his head. “Excuse us for a moment.”  
All four went a few steps away, leaving Mike and the creepy one alone. In hopes of getting at least some kind of reaction from him, the Guard said the first thing that came to his mind.  
“Your friends are stupid.”  
The blond boy kept serious eye contact, but started to smile.  
“So are you. But I still like all of you.”  
Before Mike could think of any kind of response, the group returned. “We have decided!” Declared the Bonnie to them. Freddy only shook his head again, before explaining their idea.  
“We play a simple game, where you have two cards, the king and the joker, and have to get the king, to keep your seat. If you get the joker, you get ten seconds to hide and have to run away or hide for at least three minutes.”  
“That sound unnecessary complicated.”  
“It is, my friend, it is.”  
The Chica only giggled. “I think it sounds like great fun! But I have to warn you… you will never be able to catch me, because I´ll never be the one to be chased!”  
Bonnie was for one more time an evil mastermind. “Hey, if you´re so sure about, how about we bet?”  
Mike felt the need to intervene. “Gambling and betting aren´t-”  
Foxy had already jumped up. “YES! Two get to bet about the players and the two players bet against each other! Let´s bet on sweets! Thing is that the Joker can steal sweets, I mean you can say: I will get the Joker and take five of your candies and if you´re right you get them! But only if you get away!”  
That seemed unfair to Mike, as he glanced at the hardly ever moving Goldy and the more fragile Chica. But, well, he was the adult, it wasn´t his job to keep the world fair.  
Surprisingly everyone agreed and the game began.  
After ten minutes Mike had lost all of his sweets to Foxy. That fucker was fast as shit.  
Chica, as promised, was only chased once by Bonnie, who tricked her.  
Fredbear was the best at hiding; his stacks of sweet had also increased impressively.  
Freddy wasn´t too keen at it, he got tired of the game quickly and began to only watch.  
The Guard wasn´t sure if he had fun or if the sickness had already drained him of his ability to be pissed off. Of course, the glances of the other customers were still annoying, as they were watching him hiding, but he could forget about them rather well.  
After fifteen minutes, Mike noticed a strange man wandering in slow circles around them. It wasn´t obvious, he moved at a snail´s pace, but it became increasingly more suspicious, the more often he saw him.  
At first he thought it was Vincent, but the hair and skin was more of a pinkish color and the hair was smoother and shorter.  
The kids seemed to have noticed him too, as they went quiet and stopped playing. Softly they murmured with each other, staying close.  
The air felt oppressively hot and heavy, running through his throat like lava.  
“W-who is this? Do you know him?”  
The children only eyed him a frightful, staying silent.  
Every little hair on his arms stood up, once the man decided to stop the mockery and stepped to their table.  
“Children, the playtime with the animatronics begins shortly… you should be at the stage, should you not?”  
“Who are y-you?!” His voice wasn´t supposed to crack, but he couldn´t help it, his air supply was lacking right now.  
The pink guy only smiled at him with a black smile. “Thank you, Mr. Schmidt, for taking care of them, I truly appreciate it, but they are not allowed to miss this event.”  
Mike felt anger desperately fighting back against his tensed up body. “So… and you can just decide that, huh?”  
“Why, of course I can, they are mine after all.”  
“All five of them?”  
“All of them.”  
“T-that is ridiculous! You´re probably a sick pedo, or-” He choked on his own words as he shivered like a maniac and his body burned up.  
“I understand you did not mean to insult me like that, but I would strongly advise for more care in the future. I would never scoop down to this level of sickening perversion and I hold my principals as high as my pride. Now you shall be excused, since your boss most likely will expect a well-crafted reply. Enjoy your evening, Mr. Schmidt.”  
He smiled once more, but his eyes were all black, nothing, no white dots, no shimmer of humanity and he brushed past him, TOUCHED him…  
Pain split his body apart and his breathing didn´t went back to normal until he felt hands holding him close. As his vision came back, he saw Phone Guy´s dial in front of him.  
“M-mike, are you alright?!”  
“Yeah, just fucking peachy. I´m the fucking enbodiment of health...” With all his force he turned around to catch a glimpse of the terrifying monster roaming around in human skin, but the thing was already gone.  
What if he never was there in the first place?  
“Did something happen, Mike?”  
“… No… No, it… was fine… I just need some water…”  
“Take a short break in the saferoom, but tell me when you´re back out, alright? Please, we need you around here.”  
“Fine, I´ll be quick.” Keeping a fast pace, he shortly checked the stage, but couldn´t find the kids.  
The saferoom was more haunting than usual, despite not being decorated in the slightest.  
They are mine, all of them.  
Five children in a saferoom, the knife goes round and round, oh, four children in a saferoom!  
Didn´t anyone SEE anything?  
Mine. All of them.  
Mike leaned against the wall, not able to keep himself upright. He felt sick to the core and despite knowing better, he swallowed another pill.  
His breath steadied slowly and after five minutes he felt ready to return to the main area. For some reason he was searching for Vincent. Maybe because he was a great distraction.  
Or should he look for Matt? Matt was most certainly creepy enough to cleanse his mind.  
But the prize corner was empty.  
Uncertain Mike slide into the cashier seat, wondering if he was told to take over and simply forgot.  
How unlucky can one be, to meet a real devil in this sea of fake ones?  
Where did that come from?! There wasn´t anyone in sight…  
But you tried to stand up to him! Futile, but brave.  
“H-hello?! Who is there?!”  
It is me, Mike. I am in the box. I have tried to reach you for a long time now…  
“The puppet?” It was ridiculous and crazy. Nothing was right anymore.  
Please, trust your own senses, instead of what the others depict as reality.  
“That would be what I would say, if I were a hallucination.”  
But thankfully I am not. I am impressed you can hear me. Normally I need to invest an excruciating amount of energy to get through the box as well as through the head.  
“Maybe the normal are just not insane and that´s why they can´t hear you.”  
For an insane person, you appear fairly calm. Now, I would like you to open the box and set me free. I have to stop a killer.  
“Yeah, right! You´re the killer in this story! REMEMBER TRYING TO KILL JEREMY?!”  
Stop screaming at a present, Mike, people are watching. And yes, I of course remember. But it was for the greater good.  
“Yeah, nah, fuck yourself. You´re just a suicidal hallucination of mine. I´m not stupid.”  
I beg you, the person you know as Vincent is a psychopathic serial killer who killed countless children to satisfy his mindless need for death! We have to stop him and close this cursed restaurant chain! Lost souls are haunting the suits; why else would the robots aim to kill? You have seen them, Mike! You simply cannot act as if it was not your reality.  
“Ha-ha, yes, of course, I´m working with a serial killer. Just because someone is fucked in the head, sadistic and ignorant, doesn´t mean they are the devil incarnate. Fucking hell… I´m fucking off now, to kick his ass. Never talk to me again.”  
Two kids.  
Just before Mike could leave his seat, the puppet said it.  
The five children missing may be the most prominent and recent tragedy, but it started with two kids. Two little boys who followed the promise of adventure. They were tortured to death, because the killer thought that was how he could get what he wants. He wanted to transfer life from body to metal, from child to machine. It worked. Years later they tried it again, more… ethical this time. One of the undead children helped them, hoping that if there were more machines; there were more chances to kill the murderers.  
“Undead children, helping a murderer. Yeah, I´m healthy. Let me tell you something: Either you´re my imagination and therefore untrustworthy, or you´re the demon that would kill mercilessly, if the music wouldn´t sedate it. Whatever the truth is, I have two words for you: Fuck. Off.”  
Is this your last answer? Well then, you shall regret it soon. You will not stand between our happiest day.  
Not caring about the other people anymore, he sprinted out, trying to find and strangle Vincent. Not because he was a killer, but rather because he had switched his medication.  
That was just despicable.  
From the stage came mild screaming, as the animatronics were slowly tearing their heads off to reveal their endoskeletons. Why PG was allowing that, was a mystery on its own.  
Finally Mike found the purple Fuck, who had gathered his own crowd of kids that were listening with their teeth shattering. Apparently it was a story.  
“So the demon said to the two boys; “If you want to know the secret of life, you will have to follow me through death!” The older one wanted to decline, yet his younger friend already took the hand of the strange creature. Without any other choice, the boy followed his executioner into the dark.”  
As Mike closed in, ready to interrupt, the world shifted and there the pink guy was again, leaning behind Vincent on the wall, listening and watching. Their eyes met and the black smile crept back onto the beings face. Slowly it raised a finger and put it in front of his lips, warning him not to interrupt the scene.  
The air began to burn once again, as his muscles slowly stopped in their tracks-  
No.  
No, fuck you.  
No, it could fuck itself, he wouldn´t give in!  
Who did he think he was?! Some kind of demon? A higher being? NO, IT WAS JUST A SHITTY HALLUCINATION! FUCK HIM! FUCK OFF!  
He now stormed into the small crowd, ready to punch the air. “YOU! YOU LITTLE-”  
“Mike?” Vincent smiled brightly at him, positively surprised. “I was just telling the kids a story of my friend, the devil! Would you like to join?”  
“We need to talk. NOW.”  
“Geez, you look BAD… is something the matter?” His grin shifted into a more provoking one. It didn´t falter, even as he was dragged along into the one room you could secretly murder someone in.  
“YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT, DID YOU FUCKING CHANGE MY PILLS, YOU SICKO? I´LL FUCK YOU UP, YOU TRIED TO LITERALLY MURDER ME FOR THE SECOND TIME!”  
“I didn´t change your pills. If you see some spooky stuff, what´s the matter? It´s Halloween! Maybe some ghost are haunting you!”  
“STOP LYING INTO MY FACE, DID YOU CHANGE THESE FUCKING PILLS?! YOU BETTER ANSWER NOW, BECAUSE I WILL BREAK YOUR BONES IF YOU DON´T!”  
The Purple Guy was actually surprised. This amount of anger, this radiating hatred was not what he was expecting. God forbid, he had plenty enough rage for two people! This sickness of his was no joke. For the sake of soon getting back out to the scary sounds and glowing jack-o´-lanterns he revealed his trick.  
“I gave you back your bottle of pills, but I changed the pills inside you locker to sugar pills for my drinks.”  
The shivering Guard reopened his locker, the other bottle of pills and took three at once. Now he leaned against the wall, slowly breaking down into himself.  
Vincent couldn´t help, but smile at this sight. It was adorable. Made him almost want to pick him up and carry him to safety.  
Reality turned into a hazy cloud, as he imagined Old Sport being that fragile and terrified. Somewhat he wished he would have played a little with him before he made his offer. But well, honesty was the most important part of a relationship and that was more important than this small satisfaction. That and the fact that the fucking Phone could have used the mental instability just as much.  
Reality returned in form of Mike´s soft murmur. “Why the hell does anyone have sugar pills? Get your fucking sugar out of the kitchen, you numbnut.”  
“I´m not allowed in the kitchen, remember? And I thought you wouldn´t need it.”  
Fevering Mike looked up to the purple guard. Was that the face of an innocent man, who was just a little stupid and self-absorbed?  
No. Vincent knew he would change bottles. This was all a set-up. But if he now would try to blame Vincent, the Guard would only need to deny it and would be golden.  
Who was laughing now? No one.  
This wasn´t a prank anymore, this was a direct attack.  
Painfully a smile stretched over his face. “You´re gonna pay for this. Now leave. I need time alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What?! Six thousand words already?! What the heck?! I just wrote it in like… two sittings?! FREAKING HELL, YOUR COMMENT MADE ME WRITE LIKE ON STEROIDS! You´re actually magical, dear Anon ;3  
> Well, fine. I prepare the next one… get ready for another upload in only four days!  
> Not all too spooky, but hey, I´ve got a demon, six ghost, one serial killer and one mental illness in one chapter! If that isn’t scary, I don´t know what is. By the way, does anyone know what´s about Vincent and communism? Is it a running gag, or should I know better?  
> Happy Halloween! I hope you have some nice costumes and LOST OF FUN!


	7. Payback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too many things start to happen at once. To make it short: Talking Animatronics, rage fits, friendly conversation and a weird Orange Guy, stalking the pizzeria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used the chorus of “Join the party” from JT Machinima, because, hey! It works and sounds cute. Perfect for the Fredbear and Friends show, at least in my opinion ^^  
> AND FINALLY A BIT OLD SPORT, HOLY SHIT!  
> (Oh dear, I just noticed... in the only chapter that got a beta-reader, I forgot to change her mentions... why did no one tell me about that?! I´m so embarrassed ;-;  
> Well, it´s gone now :/)

It was the morning after Halloween and Jeremy felt great! Of course, it was mourn-worthy that the day of costumes and ghosts was over, but on the bright side, he wouldn't need to be afraid to get tricked anymore. He admired Mike and Vincent for their creativity and endurance for their pranks, but it would really exhaust him to always be prepared for a trick.  
Humming he activated the TV and prepared his breakfast, to be ready when the first notes of the Fredbear and Friends theme song started.  
Naturally, he sang along.  
“I´ll be your friend, right ´till the end! Join the party! Don´t be afraid, we´ll find a way! Join the paaarty! Follow the pack, we´ll have a blast! Join the party! I´m here for you, we´ll make it through! JOIN THE PAAAAAAAARTY!”  
In the past, his best mornings were spent in front of the TV, at about six AM on a weekend. The sound was always on one of the lowest settings since he would get in trouble with his parents if he got caught, but still, he was able to catch every little sentence.  
Thinking about it, the best mornings were still spent like that, except that he was allowed to have a normal amount of volume.  
Jeremy couldn't stop humming and smiling, as he saw the most adorable versions of the animatronics interact and play. The great part of his new life was most certainly that, even after turning the TV off, he could still spend all day with the lovable machines!  
A little bitter he thought of his father and his assessment that Jeremy would never be able to get hired in anything needing talent or endurance. On the other hand, there was no need to remind himself of it, his father´s predictions had always been wrong. Jeremy had his own place, a job and awesome co-workers, who acted like one big family! It wasn't the best paid of all places, but it was the best place overall. Freddy´s was so… alive! Whenever he entered he felt like it was HIS birthday and everyone in the establishment came to celebrate with him.  
It was magical! He had sworn to never change his job and even if he changed from night to day shift, it still was the right place for him. Silently he admired Mike and Mr. Phone Guy, because of their bravery to face the glitching machines and yet still not holding it against them. That was the way everyone should be! Open minded and kind like them!  
Excited the brown-haired boy stared at the clock, ready and set to finally go to work. Just in five minutes… four minutes…  
Three…  
Two…  
One…  
GOOOOOOOOO!  
Trying not to rush too much he walked down the streets, happily greeting the different people passing him. They greeted back with a smile, having a good time.  
Who would have known he would find this great place out in a world that was described to him as cruel? This world was a paradise!  
Phone Guy nodded to him as he opened the back door for him, already used to see him run up about an hour too early.  
Happy he skipped into the main hall. Mike would come at about one, resting from his nightshift, so he had the whole area to himself!  
As he rushed to the stage, ready to greet the Toy-Animatronics, he noticed that the old ones were out as well, now fully back in function.  
Could this day get any better?! Despite LOVING the cute Toy-Animatronics, his favorites were still the classics. They were a bit cuddlier.  
Stopping in his tracks, he decided to greet them first, respect for the elder and all that.  
“Hello, Chica! You look good today! I´m so happy your mouth is back to normal!”  
It was his ritual to talk with the animatronics and even though he already knew all the answer the robots could give, his topic of course not being on the list, he still appreciated their effort.  
“Why, thank you, Jeremy! I´m also happy to be back to normal…” She leaned in. “…between us, never start an eating contest with me. I´m competitive.” Snickering she raised back to her full height.  
Jeremy´s brain had fried in disbelieve. “Y-you can talk?!”  
Confused the chicken shrugged. “Yes, Jeremy, I was talking for quite a while with you, you know? Didn´t you hear me?”  
“No… you- I mean, yes, but you always said the same!”  
“Huh, weird. I could have sworn we had the most pleasant conversations before… but, memories can be weird sometimes, I guess. I have to go now and check the kitchen. Want to come along?”  
“N-no, I have to greet the other ones as well!”  
“I see.” Brightly she smiled and petted him. “Don´t let Bonnie sour your mood, he had a bad night.”  
“I won´t! See you later!”  
His heart was racing at about fifty beats per second and was the only thing able to convince him that this wasn´t the most awesome dream possible, but reality! As fast as he could he jumped over to Freddy and hugged him.  
“FREDDY YOU´RE THE BEST!”  
Surprised the bear made a weird noise, but it turned into laughter. “Woah, kid, how do I deserve this praise?”  
“Just by being ABLE TO TALK TO ME!” Jumping up and down around the bear, he knew the guy might be confused, but still happy.  
“Alright, in that case, thank you, you´re also the best! It´s great to talk with you.”  
“I have to go and greet Bonnie and Foxy now, see you later!”  
Since he wasn´t able to find the bunny right away, he first entered pirate cove.  
“Foxy?! Are you in there?!”  
“Argh, mate, what do ya want at this unholy hour?”  
“Marvel at you! It´s amazing! Do you know what time it is?!”  
The Fox peeked out behind the curtain, rubbing his eyes. “Early enough to sleep. There´s no way the kids are already here.”  
“No, sorry, I just… wanted to see you! It´s SO awesome!”  
Foxy shook his head, wondering how someone could be this happy on a morning. Tired he watched the Guard retreating, sighed and reentered the shadows of the curtains.  
After another search, Jeremy was able to find Bonnie by the cleaning supplies.  
“Hey, Bonnie! What´s up? I heard you had a bad night…”  
“The ceiling, you damn annoyance. And yes, 'bad night' is fitting, thanks.”  
“Aw, come on, what happened? Maybe I can help!”  
“Maybe. Your mechanic, the one who repaired me last night, unironically said that he didn´t know if I was a BOY OR A GIRL anymore! Who does he think he is?! I am OBVIOUSLY a boy! GOD, AND HIS HAIR LOOKS EVEN GIRLIER THAN MY FUR!”  
“Yes, your voice alone is clue enough! With 'mechanic', do you mean Vincent? He sometimes makes comments, which he doesn´t mean to be rude, but end up sounding wrong. Don´t mind him, he is super nice once you get to know him!”  
“Maybe nice, but insultingly stupid.”  
“I´ll talk to him, I´m sure he will apologize in no time!” Happy as a human could be, he closed in to hug his friend. Sadly, said friend stopped him and disapproved.  
“Kid, could you… stay away? I really don´t want your dirt all over my fur, it is hell to clean it back out. Nothing personal, I´m just a no-hug-zone.”  
Slightly disappointed Jeremy nodded. “Alright then, I will look for Vincent now, see you!”  
His mood of course instantly got back to excitement, since he was now in a restaurant full of amazing things. If he would wake up now, he would actually consider going back to sleep, because this dream is amazing!  
In the show area he found Vincent, grinning just as much as him, sipping on a soda.  
“M- Vincent, Vincent! They talk! THEY TALK!”  
“Yes, right?! At least the old ones. I would kiss myself if I could, this was great work!”  
“You did that?! HOW? This is magical! They are real! Real personalities! They just answered, without any break or bug! YOU ARE SO AWESOME!”  
Vincent wasn´t expecting the powerful hug he received and pretended to suffocate to escape. “You know that´s just how some people are born; Awesome.”  
“Does Mr. Phone Guy already know of this?!”  
Satisfied like a fat cat, Vincent signed towards the stage, where the Phone-head was intensely talking to Freddy. Without hesitation Jeremy rushed over, catching the last bits of the conversation.  
“Please Freddy; tell no one the Tamagotchi story! I would probably be drop-kicked by even more toddlers…”  
“MR. PHONE GUY! FREDDY!” The small guy sprinted in and jumped between them, glowing from joy. “THIS IS THE BEST DAY THAT EVER EXISTED!”  
Freddy laughed his usual warm, deep laughter and Phone Guy only shook his head. To him, the problems that could arise with talking animatronics were obvious. Bonnie, for example, was a pain in the behind for a while, always whining about his missing face, despite that not being part of his word program.  
Next to possible insulting, radicalizing and secret-trading that could ensue.  
But the small Jeremy was happy, so to heck with his worries. He did not allow himself enough fun.  
Hyperactive the boy swayed from one side to the other and giggled, his whole face glowing out of sheer love for the situation.  
Vincent strolled over. “So, boss, what do you say? Give the Toys the same treatment, or keep it special for the favorites?”  
The Phone Guy considered his options and shook his head. “Keep it for now to the original crew, I am worried about the animatronics fighting.”  
“But Mr. Phone Guy, how could they ever fight with someone? They are far too nice to do something like that!”  
“Well, Jeremy... it´s… complicated.” The Phone felt most certainly not paid enough to explain the problems with individuality and free will. Thankfully the young Guard was by now gone once again, following the more sensible Freddy, who had noticed the tension between the older Guards.  
They stood back, watching him running in circles around the bear, so small and fragile; he might as well be just another kid that visited the place every day.  
Coldness trickled down Phoney´s neck. There was something foul here and he wasn´t strong enough for the repeating dance between his and Vincent´s wit.  
“Why? Why did you do this? For what purpose?”  
The Purple Guard simply snickered. “What cha talking about Phoney? Isn´t this great? With this we most certainly out-compete Candy´s and will get more media attention than before!”  
“You never do anything that doesn´t promise you entertainment.”  
“Maybe your happiness is entertaining enough?” He winked at the boss, who felt as if he needed to throw up.  
“There´s something going on here and I´m not stupid enough to ignore it. I ask you once more: What do you gain from this?”  
Shortly the psycho paused, thinking, followed by the biggest smile. “Well, I got to know that this works. If you want to make the perfect plan, you better test your ideas first, right?”  
“I knew it.”  
“You knew what?! WHAT is it that you KNOW?” Gripping him by his collar, the man leaned uncomfortable close, smiling angry. “You´re an IDIOT, Phoney! You never understood ANYTHING! But fuck, even if you´d understand it, you wouldn´t remember it! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?! TELL ME! THAT I WANT TO BETTER THE ANIMATRONICS?!”  
He threw his “superior” back, laughing whole-heartedly. “You know I like you Phoney~ But never DARE to say to my face that you know ANYTHING! Ya don´t even know when it´s time to NOT meddle with other´s affairs. For the living fuck, you don´t even know how your kids look like! AND STILL BELIEVE THEIR YOURS!”  
“T-they… I k-know that!”  
“Nothing about you is real, but you feign ignorance. YOU know NOTHING!”  
Phone Guy couldn´t help but stare. Of course the things Vincent was using against him weren´t a surprise, but his mood was absolutely dangerous.  
Suddenly he started shivering as a realization seeped into his mind.  
Vincent was bored.  
Why he knew that wasn´t clear to him, but it was an undeniable truth. It felt like a drowned memory of an old nightmare.  
S-so, the Guard was bored, and? Why should he bother? What was the worst that could happen?  
As their eyes met, Vincent´s frown twisted.  
“Ah, apparently you only needed a little reminder. Who knows, if you´re lucky you might make it through this gig alive! But maybe don´t sell anyone off this time? Your last version was terrifyingly bad at sting-operations.” And just like that the mood made a 180° turn and the guy made a pirouette, laughing and giggling, pretending as if their previous talk never existed. “If you´re impressed with my little upgrade to the speech, you absolutely LOVE my surprise! I can´t WAIT to show all of you! We will open a whole new place! People will flock to us like teenagers to edgy music!”  
Phone Guy couldn´t say anything and only watched him leave towards his co-worker.  
Sometimes he asked himself if there was more than one person inside Vincent.  
In this moment he missed Mike with every inch of his being. He needed someone to curse and he wasn´t in the position to do so. Quickly he slipped into the office and started playing with his cord, nervous.  
Should he call him?  
He was most likely sleeping and would kill him for waking him up.  
But right now he couldn´t even control his own breath.  
He needed him right here and now.  
His twitching fingers took three attempts, but finally, he got the right number. The signal beeped once, twice and… call accepted.  
“H-hello? Hello, Mike?”  
“What the literal fuck do you think you´re doing you piece of shit, it´s fucking five hours too early to fuck with me, if you have no fucking good reason for this fucking shit, I´m going to fuck you up, you fucking fuck.”  
Already he felt calmer.  
“Y-yeah I know, I just…” Now he noticed that he didn´t even have a good excuse ready. “… Used the wrong number?”  
“—I´m there in fifteen minutes. Make your fucking testimony.”  
The call ended and PG couldn´t help but smile. Whenever Mike was in the general vicinity he felt safer.  
The happy feeling was soured as he considered that it might be because Mike was able to distract Vincent at the cost of his sanity. Guilt dripped out of every pore he had.  
He would find a way to make it up to him… and not only by letting him cuss unpunished.  
After ten minutes hiding in the office, he heard the doors being slammed open.  
“HEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEE`S MIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! WHERE IS THE FUCKING PHONE?!”  
Checking on the cameras he found out that he might have spoken too soon. Mike stood in the middle of the entrance, wielding a baseball bat. Why does he have such a thing?  
Foxy sprinted out of the cove towards the annoyed employee, screaming from the top of his metal speaker as well. “MIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE! IT´S YOU! MIKE, MIKE, MIKE! BE PART OF MY CREW! YOU CAN´T PRETEND TO NOT UNDERSTAND ME ANYMORE! I KNOW I WAS UPGRADED!  
“FUCK OFF, YOU PIRATE PIMPLE, I DON´T TALK TO HALLUCINATIONS! I HAVE BETTER FUCKING THINGS TO DO!”  
Jeremy and Vincent who were attracted by the amount of noise watched, one scared, one impressed, how Mike actually swung his bat at the head of the machine. Luckily though for both of them, the fox was too far away.  
With a face of betrayal, the pirate stopped. “B-but Mike! Mikey mate! You would be perfect! C´mon, please? I was told you said you were my human-mirror?”  
“Well, maybe, but I DON`T FUCKING KILL PEOPLE!”  
“What… are you talking about?”  
Completely enraged again the guy turned away from him. “RIGHT! MY FIRST KILL! GET OUT HERE PG! YOUR END IS HERE!”  
Vincent started cheering without warning. “WOOOOOOOOAH, GET HIM! TIME TO KILL THE LAME-O! IMMA HELP! CATCH!” With that he threw a Taser over, but Mike only deflected it.  
“I KNOW WHAT FUCKING KIND OF WEAPON I WANT TO USE, YOU USELESS FUCK! IF I WANTED TO USE A TASER, I WOULD FUCKING GET ONE FROM THE SHITTY PRIZE CORNER!”  
This didn´t offend Vincent in the slightest. “I WILL BUY ALL YOUR MERCH!”  
“KILL YOURSELF, YOU IMBECILE!”  
Finally, the victim stepped in, slightly nervous. “H-hey, how about we-”  
An intense war cry ripped the air, as Mike rushed over, his baseball bat ready to attack. At this point even the Phone noticed that he made a bad choice.  
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING PHOOOOOOOOOOOONE! I CAN AND WILL END YOU!”  
Panicking he dodged the first hit and began to run away. “Please, Mike, we can talk about this!”  
“I`M DONE WITH TALKING! YOU CAN THREATEN MY LIFE; YOU CAN THREATEN MY SANITY, BUT DON´T YOU EVER COME NEAR MY SLEEP CYCLE! YOU WILL SUFFER FOR THIS!”  
“M-Mike, you d-don´t know what you´re doing!”  
Still running in fear, the manager threw tables and chairs between them, trying everything to slow him down, but the former night guard didn´t even bother avoiding them, only crashing right through them.  
As quickly as possible both bystanders tried to follow, both undeniable… interested in the development of this fight.  
“WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU FUCK-PHONE?! WITH WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY JUSTIFY THIS KIND OF CRUELTY?! FUCK YOU!”  
“W-WELL, H-HOW DO YOU JUSTIFY T-TRYING TO KILL ME RIGHT NOW?!”  
“LIKE EVERY-FUCKING-ONE ELSE IN THIS SHITTY RESTAURANT! NOT AT ALL!” The bat crashed down and destroyed the table next to the tripping man. “STAY STILL, I CAN`T BE FUCKING ASKED TO AIM THIS SHIT!”  
Now the poor Jeremy had seen enough. “Please, Mike! Stop!” He ran over, grabbing his co-workers arm. “Y-you start to scare me! Please don´t hurt anyone!”  
At the beginning of Mike´s movement, it appeared as if he was preparing to bash Jeremy´s head for touching him, yet the Guard abruptly stopped and lowered his whole body. “Go away, Jerry. Disappear. No one wants you here. Kill yourself.”  
Despite there being no fire behind these words, the boy still had a hurt expression. It brought Mike to the rand of his fragile sanity.  
“S-shit, Jerry, are you… I… I didn´t… I…” Clawing into his face the Guard growled, as his face contorted into a grimace of rage. “I… I fucking hate you! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! FUCK OFF!” Once again he raised his weapon at the kid.  
Sadly Jeremy smiled. “Don´t worry, I know you don´t mean it. You had a nightmare, didn´t you? Happened to me all the time at home. It´s fine, I´m here to listen.” He opened his arms, showing off his vulnerability.  
A shiver ran through his opponent, as he struggled to slowly lower the bat. “Y-you… you idiot. I really hate you and yet here you stand. What would you have done if I had ignored you and bashed the Phone´s head in? Or better, if I would be bashing your head right now? Fucking nothing, because you have no clue about protecting yourself from anything. In your mind, this whole fucking place is probably all rainbow and candy. Would it even go into your shitty little head if something was murdering you? Your existence is a joke. Someone as stupid and naive as you isn´t allowed to exist. You will die. And if I have to do it myself. It would be fun for me, because I know you would make all kinds of excuse for me. You´re aren´t even worth to talk to. You will vanish. And I will laugh about it. Yes, I will sit here and laugh. Because you´re a waste of air and attention.”  
The relieved smile that planted itself on the other one´s face as the bat lowered had turned into terror.  
But Mike felt only his lips part for the disgusting smile he was so used to show. Why should he care? This THING wasn´t worth his time.  
That´s right, a thing. Don´t even humanize it, it could start to stick to you like poison.  
And once it started sticking, getting it off would hurt even more.  
Kind people had a tendency to disappear. Either because they couldn´t keep up the façade anymore, or because they broke under his temper. Whatever came first.  
Vincent whistled impressed. “Geez, Mike, teach ME how to charm people! You´re great at making friends!”  
Finally, the Phone Guy managed to stand up, sad and guilty. The times he fricked up were probably in the thousands by now.  
The worst was the split second he caught Mike´s glance. There wasn´t any anger inside anymore, the only thing left was pain.  
He looked like the loneliest person on earth.  
A memory flashed up in his mind.  
He had thought these exact words before.  
And had failed. Terribly failed, simply left and it ended badly.  
Or something like that? These memories weren´t on his chip.  
This was a chance. A chance to redeem himself.  
Vincent´s hand reached for the shoulder of his co-worker but was abruptly stopped.  
A phone-dial met with two white glowing circles.  
Not this time. He had learned.  
Vincent´s smile brightened as he retracted his hands. Walking past him, he softly murmured “Want to keep your scapegoat that badly? Already planning how to sell him off best?” before vanishing into the backroom.  
Ignoring these provocations completely, PG softly nudged Mike. “H-hey… Listen, I´m really sorry. Can I make you a coffee or tea?”  
It surprised him that the Guard met his eyes. They were empty and exhausted. “Coffee.”  
Smiling as good as he could, as well as making his body-language as relaxed and friendly as possible, he grabbed Mike´s arm and lead him towards the office, signing him to sit in the comfortable, squishy chair.  
“We have the supplies for tea and coffee all time ready here, even though it´s is rarely used.” Shortly he paused, waiting for a response, but didn´t get one. “I apologize, employee. It was stupid of me to wake you up after a hard shift.”  
“Stop. Just FUCKING stop!”  
“Stop what?”  
“STOP PRETENDING AS IF EVERYTHING IS ALRIGHT! BE ANGRY! REACT LIKE A NORMAL FUCKING HUMAN! IS YOUR HEAD JUST AS GLITCHY AS THE REST OF THE FUCKING TECHNIC? I WAS TRYING TO KILL YOU! IF JEREMY WOULDN´T HAVE BEEN THERE, I MIGHT HAVE ACTUALLY DONE IT! SPEAKING OF JEREMY, I JUST HURT HIM FOR FUN! I´M A PSYCHO!”  
Out of nowhere, Phone Guy started laughing. An honest, bright laugh. “Wow, admittedly I was really worried for a minute, but now… Mike, if you were a psycho, you wouldn´t act this way. Screaming at me in hopes of getting me to punish you? Saying your insults are only for fun, while you´re shivering? No, you´re not in any way, shape or form a psychopath. And to answer your question, I work perfectly fine. Mike, you remind me a lot of the robots. You aren´t at fault.”  
“YES I FUCKING AM! AND SO ARE THEY! I COULD SNAP AT ANY MOMENT! FIRE ME! I AM DANGEROUS!”  
“Ha…haha… HAHAHA, you´re so weird! Vincent is dangerous! He would do what you had done and afterwards expect me to praise him for his great aim. The robots are more dangerous because they don´t care. But you… you are like… electricity. Yes, dangerous as he- heck, if carelessly handled, but I feel MUCH better with you around.”  
“And now metaphors. You just revoked your right to live, just as everyone who would ever use this shit in a normal fucking talk. I really regret not hitting you.”  
“It isn´t technically a metaphor, since-”  
“Shut the fuck up, do I look like I care?”  
Still smiling, Phone Guy gave him a mug filled with fresh coffee. “I assume you like it black?”  
A dismissive noise was his answer. Waiting for Mike to be distracted by the liquid, he reached out and softly stroked over his head.  
Instantly the Guard choked on his drink and coughed like mad. “Y-you fucking asshole, DON´T TOUCH ME!”  
Confused PG made a step back. “I´m sorry, I didn´t expect you to get scared this easily… but if you don´t mind me asking, why do you hate being touched?”  
“I don´t have to explain myself, fuck off.”  
“Please Mike, don´t be angry, I won´t do it again…” Slowly he sat down next to his employee, who moved away immediately. First he was hurt, but it turned into a chuckle of disbelieve as he saw the red ears of his co-worker.  
“You´re… getting flustered easily? Really? That is your big secret?”  
“If you tell anyone, you will be dead.”  
“Fine, I swear to my metal that I won´t ever share this dark secret of yours!”  
Tired Mike leaned back into the chair. “This place is insanity. Are you really… joking with me? I tried to kill you! I tried!”  
“Stop repeating yourself, I´m the one who makes the recordings. Yes, you did, but in this place you aren´t really alone with that.” He paused, fearing what his next words might lead to, but deciding that Mike deserved the truth. “You seem to forget that I hire people into almost certain death. Not only with the nightshift, in the dayshift it´s sometimes just as dangerous.”  
“This place is sick.”  
“Please, I gave my best, alright? It´s better than the ones before.”  
“… Fine. Okay. But… you wouldn´t hire a serial killer, would you?”  
Slowly the Phone sipped on his own coffee. “No, not if I could prevent it.”  
“…Tell me, honestly, why did you call me?”  
Now it was him who got flustered. “W-well… I just…” Completely embarrassed he hid his face, knowing that Mike would never take him seriously after this. “… I was scared, to say it bland.”  
He didn´t dare peeking at his employee, until the guy started bursting out in laughter.  
“What the hell! You´re scared and your fist impulse is to call ME? What am I? Your mom?” Finally the Guard smiled and it felt as if the whole room was lighting up. “What freak you are. Getting scared, better call the crazy rage-guy!”  
Phone Guy couldn´t help but smile a smile of relief. “Yes, the crazy, COMPETENT rage-guy!”  
“COMPETENT?!” His laughter became even louder, until he forced himself to calm down, for another sip of coffee. “Get your chip check out, Phone-face. I´m worried!”  
They spent a while in silence, enjoying each other’s company.  
It was almost not worth disturbing it, but Phone Guy had to know.  
“Mike, if you don´t mind me asking… please tell me… was this attack because of your sickness?”  
“What would you do if I said no?” Of course, he had immediately turned all defenses back on.  
“Then I would update my tapes and introduction to include not angering you or risking a violent death.”  
There was no answer, just the quiet sipping. Phone Guy took it as an opportunity to dig deeper. Despite, or maybe because of Mike´s previous fit, he felt safe to do so.  
“Tell me, Mike, did you ever… kill anyone? By accident?”  
“What do you think?”  
“If you ask me like that… no. You never killed anyone.”  
“…”  
“But have you ever hurt anyone, Mike?”  
“…”  
“I wouldn´t judge you. Sometimes things like that happen.”  
“Did you hurt people before, PG? Just because they breathed too loudly next to you? Because they had a weird voice? Because they were a tad too close?”  
Did you ever kill a man for telling a bad joke? Did you ever decide that a person deserved to die, just because they weren´t respectful enough? Did you ever wonder if the meat you were serving was from dead bodies, but decided it wasn´t worth checking out?  
Nothing of these came out of his throat. What could he say to be perceived as a peer in the sickness, but still as reliable and trustworthy?  
“Yes, Mike. I-” The truth wasn´t worth it, but sketchy answers would only lead to more distrust. “Once a customer was incredibly rude, so I took some rat poison and put it on the pizza.” This wasn´t even too far from the truth, he confidently declared to himself.  
It worked, Mike seemed somewhat more relaxed. “Wow, you really did that? Pretty cool, I usually just start screaming.”  
“Well, dogs who don´t bark WILL bite.”  
“So, I´m the barking one and you´re the biting one?” Obviously, this image amused his employee, as he couldn´t imagine his boss being in any way dangerous. It was nice having the voice of a weakling, at least sometimes.  
Mike stood up, fully stable again. “Fine, I´m going to look after Jere-… I will keep an eye on Vincent and the robots. YES! Vincent, I almost forgot!” His eyes lit slightly up as his memory came back. “You know where you find me.”  
“Same goes for you, employee! You show the kind of enthusiasm that I want to see!”  
“You mean the kind of enthusiasm you have before entering hell?”  
“Any kind of enthusiasm is appreciated, to be honest.”  
They shared a bemused glance and went their merry ways. Mike headed straight for the saferoom and searched through the belongings of his co-worker. After five minutes he found what he was looking for, an unsuspicious lunch box. Shortly he opened it and with a frozen smile he hid multiple small needles inside.  
He believed in justice and revenge.  
Afterwards, he left the room as normal as possible, worried that his little… “Prank” would be found out too soon. Luckily, the Purple Guard was nowhere to be seen, so he guessed to be safe.  
Bored and annoyed once more, he sat in a corner, staring into the, right now, empty restaurant. Jeremy was also not to be found, making him assume that they may have left together. It made him sick to imagine what Vincent might be doing or saying to the boy, but he ignored it, it wasn´t his responsibility. Not anymore, not ever again.  
The original Freddy closed in, his eyes brightly lit, showing off his baby-blue eyes. Not too out of the ordinary.  
Then the beast started talking. Quite weird for the animatronic to start the conversation, but on the other hand, he probably appeared to the broken robot like a lonely child.  
Finally, once Mike actually listened, he noticed that he was hallucinating again. The machine was most certainly not supposed to act this way.  
“Mike! How do you feel?” Awkwardly the bear tried to begin.  
He turned away, hoping that he wouldn´t need his pills over this small distraction. Rolling his eyes, he was disappointed about the uncreative way his hallucination acted. For fucks sake, this was not even one step above "nice weather today"..  
“Why aren´t you answering Mike? Are you mad at us? Me? I would like to talk with you about a few things, I beg of you, it´s important.”  
Pissed he glanced at the pestering being. How long would this go on?  
“Mike, you claimed that Foxy was a murderer. That really hurt his feelings, especially since he really adores you and sees you as a role model.”  
This almost broke his defense and even though he kept his mouth shut, a small giggle escaped his throat.  
“This is no joke! Foxy is quite bold, yet your opinion means a lot to him. Of course, no one expects an apology from you, even if it would be kind, but would you at least have the courtesy to explain your reasoning behind that statement?”  
His mind was getting out of hand. Muttering a silent “fuck everything” to himself, he went outside, hoping that at least the cold wind would motivate reality to return.  
It worked, the alley, where the employees-only entrance was located, was as depressing as always. A huge dumpster was squished between the giant walls of two buildings, almost blocking the whole route. The noise of cars regularly swelled into a loud mess, just to die back down and if you were very keen on it, you could even make out quiet bird-singing, far away. The whole atmosphere was reality: Dirty and uninteresting.  
It felt similar to waking up from a dream or getting a magic trick explained. The whole restaurant was just a fairly standard business, which had a few robots as lure. There was nothing actually… different. Everything was explainable, either with an unreliable mind or… alright, mostly with his unreliable mind.  
His slowly spinning thoughts got interrupted by a voice, sounding weirdly close. Normally there shouldn´t be anyone around here, customers didn´t care about garbage… and it didn´t sound like a voice he recognized.  
Carefully he stepped closer, eavesdropping on the monologue.  
“And BOOM, the REAL Fredbear appears, glowing in his sprinlocky-glory. Dave, of course, shocked! How can he fight this being made out of dreams and hopes? Lights flicker, Fredbear and Dave turn, confused. THEN SUDDENLY THE STAGE BRIGHTENS UP! DEUS EX MACHINA! My turn! I only grin at Fredbear, the tide had finally turned. I jump down the stage; every possible audience is shocked and amazed. I stroll half the way like a bad boy, then my first sentence. A callback! Standing up straight, revealing my Taser, I say: Oh… shit… WADDUP, DAVEY! We´re grinning now as if we were mirror images, as he says: Oh shit, waddup Old Sport! Took you long enough! We nod in total synch and turn towards Fredbear, who feels fear running up his sprinlocks. I confront him with the things I need to get off my chest for YEARS, lowering his defenses, together with Dave of course, but I get the honor to…”  
The voice stopped, the guy sounded now less enthusiastic. “No… I… no. Doesn´t feel right. I don´t want to.” He sighed and coughed. “From the beginning! Special day at Freddy´s. Hundreds of people everywhere, you almost can´t see people only three feet away from you. Dave has a bad day, planning to create a mass-panic, in hopes of getting the situation more interesting. But BAM! Someone bumps into him, but before he can turn, is already leaving. Was that just an orange hand vanishing in the crowd?! Adrenaline will pump through his veins, as he considers turning insane. Yet he follows. Some peeks at orange hair, an orange head, always out of reach. Suddenly, I vanish! As Dave manically tries to find it once more, he sees a little marking on the wall. “It´s me!” It will read! He knows it can only be one person in the world. CUT TO HIM SEARCHING! After checking every other room, he will slowly wander into the saferoom, the room of destiny. And… nothing. Only the stupid suits on the floor, as usual. Turning, bitter and hurt, he plans to leave, but then he hears a silent whisper. Why hello there… Davey. The body freezes, he turns once more, to be greeted by the now standing Freddy-suit. Slowly, like a dreamer he steps closer, reaching for the head, rising it from the rest of the body. I smile. It´s me! And he stops, keeping burning eye contact. It´s really you, he says…”  
Now once again the voice turned into a silent murmur and Mike wasn´t sure if he hadn´t moved because of his whole body cringing, or if he was just too polite for this planet.  
“That´s… not it. One more time, just one!”  
He was MOST CERTAINLY not polite enough to endure that ONE MORE TIME. Fuck, even Christ himself wouldn´t have agreed to this kind of torture and begged for the cross at that point. With the utmost determination to interrupt, he stepped around the corner of the dumpster. “Excuse me, but fuck no. It´s time to STOP!”  
The man hiding behind the voice was a completely orange guy; even his clothing had the same shade. His hair was chaotic and a little fluffy, his eyes were entirely black, except for two glowing dots, resembling the glitching robots. As Mike stepped in on him, he screamed high-pitched and jumped back against the wall, smashing his head in the process.  
“WHOOOOOOAH, WHAT THE!” The admittedly unlucky guy held his paining head as he tried to regain his breath. “For Foxy´s sake, I thought you were… frick… that would have been anticlimactic… and depressing…” Now fully back to reality, the man shortly inspected him, his smile slowly turning into a weird grin. “Gosh, I was worried, but now I can see that I thankfully DIDN`T got into a… HAIRY SITUATION!”  
Mike stared at him in disbelieve and could have sworn that everything else stopped as well. No more cars, no more birds, no more clicking of doors.  
Despite that being impossible, it got even worse as the Orange Guy tried to explain himself. “Y-you know…? You´re bald, so it could never get hairy…? Come on! I tried my best! I had to improvise!”  
“Yeah I fucking get it, it was still shit though.”  
Insulted the stranger crossed his arms. “At least it wasn´t the canyon joke… or the squirrel joke… or the lemon joke…”  
“I think I would rather have heard one of them.”  
“REALLY?! SO, WHY DID THE SQUIRREL-”  
“NOOOOOOOOO, SHUT UP! WOULD HAVE! NOW IT´S TOO FUCKING LATE!”  
Disappointed the man changed topic. “Fine, I´ll stop. Are you one of the guards?”  
“No of course not, I only stole a uniform.”  
“That´s so cool! I had to do it once too, it was quite the hassle…”  
Was this asshole making fun of him? Angrily he got ready to teach him a thing or two about irony, but the man jumped up as footsteps sounded through the alley. He smiled.  
“I guess it´s now time to go with the current season and LEAF!” With a wink he put his finger in front of his lips, before disappearing further back into the darkness, the traumatized Guard didn´t even try to hunt after him.  
The steps belonged to Jeremy, who loyally used the employees-entrance. As he saw Mike, his mouth turned into a smile and he ran the last few steps.  
“Mike, Mike, do you feel better?”  
The cynical Guard couldn´t understand it. “Fuck off; I just wanted some fresh air.”  
“Really? Well, I want some too!” Glowing happily he came far too close to his co-worker.  
“Didn´t I say FUCK OFF? Haven´t I told you what exactly I´m thinking of you? Do you want me to repeat it?!”  
“No… I don´t. I´ve heard you the first time.” His sign-face turned serious. “But I´ve told you one or two things myself, didn´t I? People might lash out at someone they perceive as a threat, but that doesn´t mean you have to punish them for that, it means to teach them better. I´m no threat to you, Mike!”  
There it was again, the godforsaken smile of a being too dumb to exist.  
But his anger wasn´t there, so why should he fake it?  
“Stop talking about me as if I´m some sort of animal.”  
“I´m not. An animal would be scary, because it wouldn´t understand me. You´re simply… normal!”  
“I think this was the first time ANYONE has ever called ME normal.”  
“Then it´s about time! You are you and you are totally normal for yourself! The trick is to accept “Normal” as an unreachable ideal, not really worth striving for. The way you differ is what makes you… you!”  
“Fucking hell, how many stupid feelgood-ads have you seen?”  
Pouting the smaller Guard huffed. “It´s my own philosophy!”  
“It´s pretty shit, seeing that you argue for demented, crazy people to simply be accepted with open arms.”  
“You´re not crazy, Mike. Many people who are considered “crazy” by society, are only people who were born and didn´t get any help or pressure to change, so they don´t know how and how much to control themselves. In my opinion, a person who still cares about others, at least to some degree, isn't sick, but only maybe helpless.”  
“Wow, now you say I´m incapable to help myself. Your insults are really sneaky…” Suspicious he stared at his companion.  
“N-no wait, that wasn´t what I meant! You´re not what I talking about at all! You´re mostly fine, I meant more extreme people than you!”  
Without his usual burning hatred, he couldn´t bring himself to care and decided to put the dispute to rest. Sooner or later Jeremy would learn the hard way.  
“You know what? Alright, fine, I don´t care. Where have you been?”  
“I took care of a delivery… hey! Mike, have you already spoken with the animatronics?!”  
“No, why?”  
This was the wrong answer, Jeremy started to scream and jump around, similar to a twelve year old girl, who just met her idol and was now convinced they were married.  
“THEY CAN TALK MIKE! REALLY ANSWER AND LISTEN! THEY ARE SO NICE! AND THEY REACT SO REALISTICALLY! IT´S AWESOME!”  
“Wait, the robots actually talk? And-” The previous conversation with Freddy popped back into his head. “That means what Freddy said…”  
In a burst of violent energy, Mike smashed open the door and ran towards the main area.  
“FREDDY FUCKBOY, COME OVER HERE YOU ASS!”  
Freddy followed the call, wincing. “Mike, do you have to use such rude words? What did I ever do to you?”  
“TRYING TO KILL ME, YOU SHITHEAD! WHAT THE FUCK! FUCKING FUCK! EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!”  
The bear showed obvious irritation. “Please, what are you talking about Mike?”  
“DON´T ACT ALL INNOCENT, YOU DO IT EVERY NIGHT!”  
Now Bonnie and Chica wandered over as well, attracted by the loud noise.  
“What do we do every night? Can´t be much, since you always look down our servers… asshole”  
“God, Bonnie, language!”  
“Why should I care? He´s cussing hundred times more!”  
“But you´re the bigger person!”  
“I´m a bunny, so no!”  
The insanity of the situation made Mike want to pull out his eyebrows. “Shut up you two! You´re all murderers! I BARELY SURVIVED LAST TIME! YOU WERE ALMOST STUFFING ME AND WOULD HAVE WENT THROUGH WITH IT IF THE CLOCK WOULDN´T HAVE SAVED ME!”  
“How can a clock safe someone?”  
“SHUT. UP. BONNIE.”  
Chica huffed, offended. “We never did such a thing and that you´re saying we did is mean! Next to the point that IF we had tried it, we would have succeeded.” Cheeky she smiled at him, obviously trying to challenge him.  
“BUT YOU DIDN`T, BECAUSE I´M TOO FUCKING GOOD! IF YOU DON`T EXPLAIN YOURSELF, I`LL HAVE TO FORCE AN ANSWER OUT OF YOU!”  
Freddy tried to calm the situation. “Mike, stop screaming, you´re scaring me. I swear we have no idea what you mean. Are you sure it was us? Or that it was real?”  
“YES, IT FUCKING WAS, I HAVE THREE PEOPLE AND TEN OR MORE TAPES TO PROVE IT!” Today he had already overused his rage and it was exhausting to continue keeping it up. “And even if, what about the bites? The attacks on quote-on-quote perverts?”  
Bonnie shrugged. “I´m a no-hug-zone! If someone does that, they can´t be surprised to be bitten for it! The doggos can do it too, so why should I control myself?”  
“And I HATE people staring at my ass! It´s sooo disgusting! Poor Foxy always has to deal with sick fantasies of creeps and I won´t stand for it! He sometimes remembers those events and starts to cry! SOMEONE has to stop that, don´t you think?”  
“YOU`RE KILLING PEOPLE!”  
Freddy had enough. “And what is with your fit you had this morning?”  
“That- I mean, I´m NOT excusing myself! I´m…”  
“You´re still here and so are we. How about just accepting it?”  
“You are dangerous far more often!”  
“If someone provokes us, we take the freedom to defend ourselves. While at it, we never hurt an innocent bystander.”  
“Excuse you, I see myself, Jerry and the Phone most certainly as innocent bystanders!”  
“Well, we never hurt you, did we?”  
Chica awkwardly coughed. “Except that one time, but to my defense, I thought you became an employee to harass us.”  
“But at Night-”  
“We´re locked down. No power, no moving, no memories.”  
“You aren´t!”  
Now Chica tried to be the reasonable one. “Come on, Mike, if we say we can´t remember, we can´t remember. You have to believe us, or else you won´t get any kind of explanation.”  
Bonnie weighed back in. “Man, I was so excited to finally get a response out of Mike and then he goes crazy. That much to Foxy´s “Idol”. Not much different to the regular idiots.”  
“What the fuck did you say?”  
Bonnie smirked as good as his face allowed him to. “Well, previously you acted quite reasonable, especially with the customers. I can appreciate anyone who uses “fuck off” at least five times a day… but now I see nothing but a paranoid lunatic, judging us for things we never did.”  
Boiling, Mike growled and turned, almost crashing into PG.  
“Employee, please calm down, the first children will come in now… and I really would like it, if the first thing they hear wouldn´t be the F-word or any variation.”  
“Fucking- alright, fine. But could you fucking tell me a bit about the robots? AND WHY THE FUCK THEY PRETEND TO NOT BE BLOODTHIRSTY MONSTER?”  
“Any question regarding the new update needs to be redirected at Vincent.”  
“There´s no way in hell I´m going to speak with him today.”  
“Hey, at least the Toys are still the same.”  
“What a fucking relief. If I HAVE to mention it; that was sarcasm.”  
“Yeah, it´s fine, just… no more swearing for the next five minutes? Please?”  
“Got it, PG. I´ll keep my mouth shut.”  
Thankful the manager nodded at him and headed for the entrance, giving Mike immediately a hard trial to keep his word, as Bonnie closed in.  
“Now, from bunny to man, go and talk to Foxy. He is totally distressed and doesn´t even want to talk about it with us. Maybe try to be nice for the first time in your life? Next to the fact, that IF a kid complains, I´m going to pin all the blame on you.”  
“Maybe he just doesn´t want to talk to you, because you´re a fu- dick.”  
“No, I´m certain it´s because of you.”  
It wasn´t worth it to continue this fight. “Fine, I´ll be right there. Now f- leave.”  
Annoyed he silently cursed at his weakness. Next thing he would know, he would probably start to agree to entertain fucking toddlers.  
Tense the Guard entered through the curtains, trying to spot the dangerous beast in the dark. It took a while, but his eyes adjusted to the dark and he made out a cowering thing in the corner.  
It rocked back and forth and finally he could make out the faint sounds of silent weeping, the irregular breath and the slight coughing.  
“So, is this how a pirate acts?”  
The robot turned around, but his eyes were deactivated; only white spots showed that the thing was active and glitching.  
Moaning in pain, the fox slowly rose from his position, twitching madly. His voice box creaked, as he tried to string a sentence together. It tried to come closer, reaching out to the paralyzed man.  
“I´m- I´m not- I´m- I´m- I´m no-o-o p-pirate-te-te, I- I- I am n-n-n-no-” Static grew louder and obscured the next few words, but the machine didn´t stop. “I-I-I d-do-n´t b-belong-ong-ong h-here-e, p-ple-e-e-ease I- m-miss-ss-ss m-y mo-mo-mo-”A screech was audible, as the thing glitched out and tripped to the side.  
Nothing moved for a minute or so and Mike tried his best to not move either, scared of triggering the monster.  
Suddenly Foxy´s eyes lit up and his movement became fluid. “M-my Mike! What are you doing here?” Curious the pirate crocked his head, eyeing him.  
“A-are you alright Foxy?” This was all escaping his mouth, after witnessing this… scary glitch.  
“Yes, of course, a pirate is always alright! Because a pirate is FREE!” With a giant smile, he perfectly showed off his sharp teeth.  
“Didn´t seem like it just now…”  
“Oh, I only slept, don´t worry. My server was locked down, so I won´t have any nightmares!”  
“Your… server…”  
“Too complicated? Don´t worry, I don´t get it either!” Again he laughed happily. “But your mechanic seemed reliable, so I wouldn´t mind too much!”  
“Our… mechanic.”  
“Mike… are you still there?”  
Snapping back out of a dark mess, masking as thoughts, he met the artificial glance of his companion. Nothing was there he could say or do, it was all… weird. But finally, he remembered why he entered this part of the restaurant in the first place.  
“I… I´m sorry, Foxy. About you being a killer…”  
“No, you´re right.”  
“What?! You KNOW?!”  
The fox hugged himself, staring intensely at the floor. “I bit the kid too harsh. I´ve heard it, he died in hospital, didn´t he?”  
“Wait, what?”  
“The others told me that it wasn´t all that bad, it happens here every so often… they all do it. You know, the kid was… I didn´t… Something startled me…” Swallowing hard, the poor thing met Mike´s confused gaze. “In the end you´re right, I´m still a murderer.”  
“No- I mean yes, but that… the kid survived, if I´m not mistaken. Without a frontal lobe, but not dead.”  
Excited Foxy wagged his tail. “Really?! They told me he was most likely dead! Those are great news!”  
Now back to his full height, the Guard noticed how tall the robot actually was. It was odd to make them that big, even though they were supposed to interact with kids…  
He continued, breaking Mike´s train of thoughts. “In that case… I accept your apology! BUT! Onlyifyouspendtodaywithme, pleasemikebepartofmycrew!”  
“What did you say? I didn´t understand shit.”  
“Y-you have to spend today with me!” He stomped with his metal foot, childishly nagging. “You wrongly insulted me and make me feel bad, so that is the least you can do!”  
“Put that idea right where it came from! Do I look like I want to waste my day listening to stories for toddlers?!”  
“Well, you could tell your own stories too! We could tell them about that one day the queen decided that she needed our help and got us a diamond ship to sail to the end of the world, to return her youth and her one true love!”  
“What… what the… Foxy? Are machines able to do drugs?”  
“No, we did it shortly after we met and at first you told me about your fear of the ocean and I sang a song about the beauty of the sea and you-”  
Thankfully loud screaming interrupted the scene and Mike used it as a reason to escape.  
All customers had turned toward the stage-area, where Vincent was shrieking, trying to get things out of the mouth. Needles to be exact.  
Mike rushed the distance and pretended to try and calm him, but his quiet murmurs were not exactly friendly. “That´s for fucking with my pills, psycho. It´s called payback.”  
Vincent's head snapped up, his eyes devoid of light, only two white dots remained. His teeth showed in a peculiar manner, between laughing and threatening.  
“You… you call this payback?” His voice was surprisingly quiet as well, even if he shouldn´t care about his audience. “You IDIOT. This isn´t payback. You probably never even HEARD how payback should be. But don´t worry, you have good ol´ Vinny here… I´ll SHOW you.”  
The Guard rose to his full height, smiling widely. “No prank, right? You said payback…”  
“I know the difference between prank and attack… just as much as you.”  
“Hehehe… heheheehehehehee…. Mikey, I admire you. You piece of shit. At least you have the balls to stand to your stupidity.”  
With that he shoved him to the side, entering the slowly building crowd and disappeared.  
Mike showed his teeth as well, but rather to snarl than to smile. This was what the asshole deserved and whatever he was planning on doing now, he would be tortured and threatened with his phobia, until he swore to leave Mike alone.  
Shortly the guy checked the clock. 13:30 - This would be a LONG day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate myself probably more for breaking off here than you do, but we´re at over 8.500 words and I think too long chapters will be hard to read.  
> Really, sorry, I just wanted to introduce too many things, but still want to give them the spotlight they deserve…  
> Well, at least this: The robots get their personality and Old Sport appeared! Even though most probably wish he hadn´t after this un-punny first act. Also we have more usual Freddy´s-insanity.  
> Should I structure my story more? I write out of my gut, with a basic thought where I want to end up at, but now I feel that my writing style might could confuse my dear reader… ;-;  
> I promise, the next one is up in two day, I only want to have a small re-read!


	8. Lessons and plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am the Purple Guy!  
> Come and see the show tonight!  
> Turn the Spotlight onto me!  
> My body´s ready, now BEGIN!  
> DAgames – I´m the Purple Guy 
> 
> Or, to say it in the fitting words of Anon the magical: “Rip mike tho.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it continues. Once again, I´m sorry, I really planned on introducing Old Sport sooner…

The main hall had filled, but it was more structured than usual. Instead of chaotic, constantly changing crowds, they had four main attraction-areas, of which the audience rarely stepped away.  
Phone Guy was positively surprised. No one was hurt yet, the robots weren´t spewing Candy´s propaganda and all in all it really appeared as if Vincent only wanted to better these machines.  
But what did he know?  
Uneasy Phone Guy reflected on his unpredictable employee´s words. Nothing really.  
What did he NOT know?  
Without any acknowledgment from his brain, his hands reached for paper and pen, ready to write his thoughts down.  
Blankly he scribbled, until rereading his words. They were reasonable questions, which could be answered with hundred different solid reasons.  
How do the animatronics talk?  
Why did Vincent invent whatever-it-was?  
How do they talk?  
What could possibly go wrong?  
H O W?  
Could they be used as possible staff?  
How can they talk, they can´t even think, they don´t have a brain and without brain how do they make decisions, I have a soul to do that, but they are machines, wouldn´t they need a heavy upgrade with a giant data-safe, hundreds of bytes, that would be expensive and vincent even proposed to do the same to the toys, HOW, they can´t simply start talking without a new brain, without a soul they can´t-  
At that point his writing turned into unreadable scribble. Quickly he ripped the page apart, terrified by his own mind. Everything was alright, DON`T jinx it.  
He felt his whole body break out into sweat, as he sat back into his seat. The office had a nice calming effect; the buttons on the side reminded him that he could always hide away if needed.  
With twitching hands he reached for the screen that displayed the security camera´s footage.  
Mike was in the main area, keeping close to the wall, but kept careful watch on the customers. It was a relief to not have to force the employees into the death-suits every other day, now that they had so many animal-entertainers.  
Jeremy was in party room 3, fooling around with Chica, entertaining the kids while serving pizza. Smiling PG nodded, amazed at this young man, who loved this place just as much as he did.  
Now he skipped through the different cameras, but nowhere was even a hint of purple.  
Where the frick could he be?!  
Did he just left? Not that he was sorely missed, the animatronics did well enough without him, but… he preferred Vincent somewhere he could see him. Who knows what he could cook up for crazy ideas when he was alone at home?  
The Phone noticed his fingers scratching on the corner of the screen and he stopped.  
Well, as long as Vincent was alone, he was a total mess. If Mike and Jeremy would help, he was almost sure he could handle this human time bomb.  
He flicked back to the camera of the main hall, deciding to watch the older of the two guards for a bit.  
Everything seemed uneventful, until the robots suddenly started move simultaneously towards him. PG stood up, horrified and hurried towards the main hall.  
Mike didn´t expect the machines to go off script, but now he asked himself how he expected the apparently sentient monsters to play nice. He didn´t move, but his glance swayed from side to side, trying to find an escape route.  
But no, the children crowded every possible way. Slowly he backed away along the wall, praying to reach the safe room and his baseball bat before the machines could gut him.  
Surprisingly enough, they stopped at a distance, nodding at each other. First Mike was confused, but after Bonnie´s words he realized how much worse his situation actually was.  
“This is our friend Mike! Say hello to him kids! He LOVES playing catch! And for today we want to make a special reward! Whoever catches him first and steals his hat, can perform with us!”  
High-pitched screeching ensued as the Guard panicked tried to break his escape.  
Bonnie, all the sadist, held the crowd back one more time.  
“Come on, friends! Let us give him ten seconds to have a small chance! Let´s count together! TEN! NINE! EIGHT!”  
In an instant the Guard vanished towards the office.  
“AND MIKE! DON`T YOU DARE LOCKING YOURSELF IN A ROOM! I´LL PERSONALLY GET YOU OUT OF THERE!”  
His heart rate was about hundred beats per second as he considered his options.  
There weren´t many.  
Children were EVERYWHERE, seeking and hunting the poor man.  
Still, impressively enough, it took more than half an hour to corner him and get the hat.  
After clawing him down to snatch the hat, the rabid demons ran back towards the waiting animatronics, not noticing or caring about Mike´s approaching breakdown.  
Phone Guy entered after all of them left, chuckling. “Heh, Mike, tell me again you´re not a great entertainer!”  
His smile vanished as he saw his employee holding his head, trying to hide something. As he made a few steps closer, he saw how futile this attempt was. Long, bright scars were all over the skin on his head, making his head similar to the paper of an angry kid with a huge crayon.  
Mike´s head immediately jumped to meet his gaze, his whole face contorted in anger once more. “Fuck off RIGHT NOW. Did you watch and decided to not help me?!”  
“Oh, come on Mike, it was just a little game…”  
“DO THIS LOOK LIKE FUN TO YOU?! Don´t you dare to look at me!”  
Confused PG stepped back, giving him space. “What is wrong?”  
“I SAID DON´T STARE AT ME!”  
“I´m NOT!” To emphasize it, he turned to the side, focusing on the table. “Even though I see no problem with me looking at you! I do it often enough!”  
“WELL, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT.”  
Now the Head-Guard turned away fully, silently thanking fate for having this room reserved for a private party later, so no one else would come in here.  
But fate was never too kind and he knew that the guest could arrive any minute now.  
“Fine, Mike, as I see it you have now three options. Option number one: You go out together with me, risking everyone watching you and trying to figure out why you hold your head like that.”  
“Not in a million years.”  
“Option number two is that you could take one of the party hats, even if they´re quite small.”  
“I´ll take option number three.”  
Without a word Phone Guy shook his head and took of the jacket of his uniform, holding it out towards him.  
A while nothing happened, then the jacket was taken.  
“We have some spare uniforms in the office; let´s go and get a new hat.”  
“Wait, why can´t I wait here?”  
“Because this room will be in use in about two minutes. Ready?”  
Now too curious he turned towards his companion and was glad that most people couldn´t distinct his smile from his usual face, because what he saw was simply too adorable.  
Mike´s head was almost completely hidden under the fabric, only his eyes were barely to see in the shadows the cloth casted.  
“Stop grinning, you´re the worst boss I ever had.”  
“Wait, didn´t you say you had worse?”  
“That was before I knew you would make fun of my unfortunate situation.”  
“I´m not making fun of you!” The Phone raised his voice, protesting, but Mike only went past him and towards the door.  
“Shut up, we have to get going. This is the WORST day I EVER had.”  
“Maybe it´s just your unlucky day?”  
“Bull-fucking-shit, something like that doesn´t exists.”  
Quickly they bridged the space and entered the office, most guests not paying attention to them. Mike sighed and exchanged the jacket with the hat, his body slowly relaxing.  
“…” He opened his mouth, but closed it, reconsidering his words. “Why didn´t you stop that? Shouldn´t Guards be left alone, so they aren´t distracted if someone gets hurt?”  
“Who knows? Listen, I get dropkicked by children about every five days. Children are monsters.”  
“Working at a children restaurant while HATING children?”  
“Yeah, what kind of idiot would do that, right?”  
“Ah, shut up, I have no choice.”  
“What gives you the thought I had?”  
Both drifted off into their own thoughts for a while, but Phone Guy returned soon.  
“Mike, have you seen Vincent anywhere? I haven´t seen him since… he introduced the new feature.”  
“I had a fight with him, he freaked out and left. No idea where he could be, but honestly I feel better when he´s gone.”  
“A fight? And he just left…? Employee… please be careful. Vincent isn´t one to just drop something and pout… at least usually.”  
“Stop worrying, I´m a big boy now. I can pick my own fights, DAD.”  
“Not you TOO! WHY DOES EVERYONE IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT CALL ME FATHER?!”  
Mike snickered over this small explosion and shook his head. “Probably because you´re acting like everyone´s dad. Give your workers space and they will learn to respect your… advice…?”  
“Don´t you dare critiquing my advice! I was the one who kept you alive!”  
“Seriously?! You said to me that there´s nothing to worry about on the first night!”  
“There isn´t as long as you know what you do!”  
The Guard shook his head, between amusement and annoyance. “Whatever. I´m going and kick Bonnie´s shins in.”  
“Employee! Don´t harm the robots, we take any repair costs out of your next paycheck!”  
With a raised middle finger he left. “Yeah, shove the money up your ass.”  
On the stage stood the bunny, the stolen hat on his head, together with a proud kid, one of those kids you just feel the instant need to punch.  
Chica noticed him first and waved. “Guess who´s back! Hey Mikey, come over!” She didn´t seem to care about his mean grin.  
Bonnie returned the grin. “If he has now a new hat, we can play once more! Are your ready, kids?”  
But Mike wasn´t having any of it. He jumped up on the stage, turning to the young audience. “Are you ready to have your shitty heads bashed in?! The next person trying to touch me will get a baseball bat right in the face. I don´t care about your fucking fragile bones, you get what you deserve, you should have more respect for adults.”  
“That would get you fired sooner than you can say: Mom, he killed a kid!”  
“Do I look like I care?! Fuck this hellhole, where even the machines are deliberate assholes without any kind of compassion!”  
“You call that a problem? I´d rather complain about the Guards who try to frame innocent robots, who wanted nothing but be their friends and their ignorance of the pain they cause!”  
“Oh, I would have taken it back, if you had given me the choice! I already told Foxy. Chica and Freddy, the same goes for you, I was wrong, sorry I said you lied. But YOU Bonnie… fuck yourself, you assaholic piece of shit.”  
The bunny shortly tried to figure out what “assaholic” meant, gave up and only laughed. “Fine, fine, here´s your hat.”  
Mike snatched it right out of his hands and growled. “Great, this is so useful to me now!”  
The children watching whispered, one of them climbed the stage. “What´s with the second round? I wanna be on the stage too!”  
“Oh, a game? Can I help?” An angle send to protect the bones and nerves of all people involved entered the room. Jeremy smiled excited. “If I get the rules explained I´d love to play with you!”  
Instantly the young man was swarmed by the young customers, who were all talking the same time. It was a miracle that he understood what they wanted.  
“Sounds fun! Hey, Mike, you said you don´t need the second hat, right? How about we do two games! One where you have to steal the hat while I run away and one where I hide the other hat and you have to find it!”  
The kids cheered, moving like ants around the Guard.  
Mike took it as his time to fuck off and handed his co-worker the hat, to finally get some peace. There was one corner in which the visitors rarely would wander off to, perfect to sit and do nothing for the rest of this shitty day. Maybe he´d even get some sleep. If PG needed two guards that desperately, he could do it himself.  
Exhausted the guy leaned back in the almost acceptable chair and closed his eyes.  
When he opened them again he noticed that the whole place was almost empty. Shocked he checked the clock, it was shortly before closing time and he could make Jeremy out, who was kindly asking the lingering children and adults to go outside and have a nice evening.  
Mike sneaked to the toilets and examined his face for any drawings, but was relieved that neither the children, nor Vincent had touched him while he slept.  
Ready to go home, he entered the office to say goodbye to the Phone.  
Huh… weird. He wasn´t here.  
Maybe he was inspecting the place or something. Mike wandered through the main hall and called out his name.  
“Hey, Jeremy, do you know where the boss is?”  
But there was no Jeremy anymore either. Apparently he had already left; his backpack was gone as well.  
Not comfortable with the situation, the Guard once more searched the restaurant, without any luck. Hesitantly he went to the saferoom, unsure why his boss would be there.  
It was locked.  
Great, was this the next prank? For calling his advice shitty?  
Well, fuck that.  
“Boss, are you in there? I´m going home now and fuck you for this move. No need to sulk that long, geez.”  
Back to the entrance it was!  
Before touching the door though, something flashed back into his mind. Weren´t the walls of the saferoom soundproof?  
Whatever, for all he knew the Phone could be jacking off in there. None of his business.  
He gripped the handle and pulled on it.  
The door didn´t budge.  
He pushed.  
Nothing.  
All lights went out.  
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” It echoed through the building. “GHOSTS AND GUARDS! WELCOME TO THE FIRST AND ONLY LESSON ON PAYBACK! I`M YOUR HOST, THE ONE AND ONLY AUBERGINE MAN! DUE TO THE NATURE OF THIS LESSON, I HAVE AN ASSISTANT FOR TODAY! COME ON OUT HERE MIKE, WE DON´T HAVE ALL NIGHT! AT LEAST PHONEY DOESN´T, AM I RIGHT?!” Dirty laughter came through the speakers on all sides.  
This had to be a joke. For that he would most certainly break the neck of this aubergine abomination.  
As fast as possible he ran towards the main area and was greeted with a terrible sight. Phone Guy was stripped on a chair, in the middle of the room, sitting in the middle of a spotlight. The man shivered and twitched, his head rolled from side to side as if in pain.  
Vincent leaned on top of the delirious guy, his grin contesting with the glow of the spotlight.  
“AND THERE HE IS!” He screamed into the microphone. “THANKS FOR VOLUNTEERING! RULE NUMBER ONE OF GREAT PAYBACK IS IRONY! IF THEY BROKE THE RULE OF A GAME YOU TWO PLAYED, BREAK ALL THE RULES! AS GRUESOME AS POSSIBLE OF COURSE!”  
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM, YOU SON OF A BITCH?!”  
“Honestly? That´s all? Well, I guess that is one of the drawbacks to swearing often… you don´t find words for harder situations. And I didn´t do much… but you would be surprised what magnets can do to things out of normal metal.”  
Mike stayed silent, snarling. What could he do?  
“Oh and please don´t step closer, I don´t want to have to end the lesson prematurely, just because you did something stupid. Here, I´ll give you some motivation to behave!” He reached down and was now aiming a gun at him. “Too bad you´re too unstable to have one yourself, right? They are very good arguments.”  
There was nothing Mike could say. If he asked for Vincent to release PG, he´d say it was part of the lesson. If he asked him why he did this, he would tell him that it was a lesson for him. With what he had right now, he couldn’t reason with the madman.  
At least he had the ability to be sarcastic. “Well, I´m dangerous without one and don´t need to hide behind it.”  
“Oh, dear Mikey, I´m dangerous enough as well~ Problem is; how can I get it into your dumb little head? You´re too stupid to simply play by rules for your own safety, so I have to remember you at all times what the rules are for… Now, enough foreplay! Say hello to each other!”  
Vincent ripped the round magnets away and Phone Guy slammed over, groaning. Slowly the Head-Guard sat up, startled when he saw Mike.  
“M-MIKE! Get away! Break through one of the windows! GO!”  
“Aw, you get ten points taken away for that Phoney… don´t you know the windows are bulletproof glass? Special requirement for every Freddy´s and Fredbear´s!”  
“WHAT?!”  
“So… what was lesson number two…? Damn, I forgot! Hmm… fine. It might be too much of a rush, but look what I got here!” With that he showed off two giant cables, with clams on the end. “Did you know that with enough electrical energy, the cables in Phoney´s head could fry? If there´d be a short circuit, his body would instantly die? Heartbeat, breathing, all is regulated by the brain… or chip in his case. That is the reason why the Phone was built to be able to function even under high voltage. His body, of course still human, might still feel the pain, but hey! He won´t die!”  
“What do you want, freak?! I WILL attack you if you dare hurting him and then you have to shoot me and I´ll be dead. Where´s your entertainment?”  
“DON`T DO THAT, EMPLOYEE, I`LL BE FINE, PLEASE-” The Phone Guy was punched hard.  
“How rude to interrupt me. Well, the thing is, and for that was the little speech I gave, I know the exact Voltage it takes to end him. It´s really high and his body will probably give in first, catching on fire or similar, BUT… I never got to know what the exact voltage is to kill a grown man. It´s probably on google and far less than the Phone would take, but I´m too lazy to use my internet. On the right side you will find one more pair of cables. Put them on and I´ll let the Phone leave at the end of the night.”  
The hostage screamed now once more. “MIKE, PLEASE, IT`S FINE, I- I W-WILL BE BACK, THERE´S NOTHING THAT C-CAN HAPPEN TO ME! PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, DON´T LISTEN TO HIM!”  
“This is honestly adorable… you actually care about your employee? REALLY? Wow! There´s a first time for EVERYTHING! The black hole inside my chest gets warm! But lying is BAD, Phoney! You have to be a role model! Of course you won´t be back! You´ll go straight to HELL! For lying, killing and betraying! You´ll get replaced and forgotten, nameless and faceless as you are!” Cheery the Purple Guy laughed and jumped around. “Well, but I guess the audience is CRAVING some romance! Let´s give them a treat, shall we? Tell me Phoney, why do you care about Mikey? Now remember, no lying!”  
The Phone-head turned to the side, watching the ground. “I… He doesn´t deserve this. He gets the short end of the stick at every turn in life. An accident, an illness and now Freddy´s. This can´t continue. Despite me risking his death, he keeps on helping me. He even censored himself for five minutes, just because I asked him to.”  
“WOAH, censoring himself for FIVE MINUTES? Shit, that´s true love, what am I even doing? How boring and predictive. I don´t think Mikey appreciates the pity. He doesn´t DESERVE this? How do you know? Are you the god of justice? What do even know about HIM? What tells you that this isn´t an act he put on? Maybe he is even on my side! We met in a previous restaurant, where he at first ignored me as much as possible, but after you sacrificed him to the machines, resulting in his scars, he decided I would be a nice partner for his revenge.”  
“What the living fuck are you talking about, we never-”  
“And before applying we had an idea to make it even more fun! We would pretend to not know each other, even hating each other, so he could gain your trust and REALLY break you. What would you know about THAT, Phoney?”  
“Don´t listen to the fucking psychopath, I would never agree to this shit, I´m not-”  
“WHILE we´re at knowing things… what about you Mike? Do you think this is real? What if you´re the one who locked your boss into the saferoom, after luring him there? What if you just got the cables, planning on fooling yourself into suicide? You´re might not even talking to a human right now. Come on, does this situation look remotely real to you? The whole set-up is far too complicated! When was I supposed to DO all of that? You´re really stupid if you take the shocks. Tomorrow the articles will read: “Man executing himself inside children restaurant! Co-workers confused and worried.” or an equally shitty title… if Phone Guy even bothers to report your death… and Ronaldo doesn´t find you first and uses you for the next pizza! But well, don´t listen to me, I´m just a hallucination! Go on, take the cables! Nothing could go wrong here!”  
Everything had turned quit, making Vincent´s giggles unnaturally loud. “You´re BOTH so INCREDIBLE STUPID! You don´t know ANYTHING! YOU CAN´T EVEN TRUST YOURSELVES! Well, who am I to judge, right? Judge each other, go on. I already know what you will do, Mike. You will kill yourself, right here and now, hoping to protect a sociopath who is the reason you got into this hell in the first place! You! You who was the scapegoat your whole life, will do a last show. But DO tell me… why are you protecting him?”  
“Why should I answer you?”  
“Because I could still give the Phone a controlled shock if you don´t.”  
Mike started to wander towards the cables, shortly stopping in front of them. “PG… is a good guy. He is polite, caring and gives his best, even in a world of insanity. He didn´t asked for it, he´s simply a victim struggling to keep himself and others alive.”  
Now the laughter was so loud, both jumped a bit. Vincent was unable to breath, yet his laughing didn’t stop, it didn´t even die down for a second.  
After five minutes the aubergine man wiped the tears of his cheeks and breathed heavily. “Jesus Christ, Phoney! I´m impressed! You had him fooled! Doesn´t mean much, since he is retarded, but geez, never expected that! CARING! I can´t, it´s just too GOOD! And now he DIES FOR YOU! Phoney! You´re… wow. C´mon, let´s give him the truth!” His tone shifted violently, his eyes turned into white dots. Anger seeped out of every syllable. “Tell him what a CARING and LOVEABLE boss you are!”  
There was no answer, but Vincent didn´t appear to mind and continued.  
“While we´re at it, do you ACTUALLY think, that this THING is remotely HUMAN?! Spoiler: HE ISN´T. He´s as manufactured as every other robot here! WE CAN EASILY ORDER A NEW VERSION, AFTER THIS ONE BITES THE DUST! AND IT WON´T BE A LICK DIFFRENCE FROM THE PERSON ON THIS CHAIR! IT DOESN´T EVEN HAVE A NAME! They are simply copy after copy! Visit ANY Freddy´s in ANY state! YOU WILL FIND ANOTHER ONE OF THESE TERMITES MANAGING THE PLACE! Really, I want you to kill yourself, but over something THIS stupid?! You should ask me for the key, go home and have a nice rest, tomorrow I´ll bring you to the factory to pick a new boss for this establishment, joke being that picking is completely pointless, since they are still all the same!”  
Phone Guy didn´t even raise his head anymore. “It´s fine Mike. Ask for the key and leave me here. Believe me when I say that this would be a merciful death for a man like me.”  
The harsh answer Mike gave surprised both of the other Guards.  
“Shut up, you fucking stupid Phone! What do you think this is for me? I´m the garbage of human nature! I´ll NEVER have a normal life! Always people will ask me why I look so weird, always I will be depended on my pills and I will NEVER EVER find anyone sturdy enough to deal with my shit. I´m dangerous and will only grow more dangerous over time. One day I will wake up, covered in blood, surrounded by the police, next to me an unknown dead body! This is my last chance to go out gracefully. So could you at least FUCKING pretend to be good person, so I´ll get the feeling I actually did something good in this shitty life? So I can feel like a fucking hero for ONCE?”  
Vincent snickered. “Suicide it is! I´m almost sad to see you two go… hey, maybe I´ll turn you into animatronics! You could be together forever!”  
“How? You said you would let him go.”  
“Oh, right… well, you´re as machine, he as your caretaker… it´s gonna be real romance! Not the shit you presented to me here.”  
“Guess it´s shit, because we weren´t even fucking remotely romantically involved.”  
“Ah… NOW you really hurt the poor Phone, Mikey!”  
Mike only ignored him, connecting himself with the wires. He tried his best to not look at PG, knowing this would only go badly.  
Satisfied the Purple Guard revealed a remote. “Tell me when you feel like dying, I have to measure the exact voltage.” With a click the pain started.  
His vision turned white, his whole body started to spas out, every nerve inside of him screamed in protest. The only thing hinting that he had fallen on his knees was the lack of energy he had in his legs.  
“Doesn´t seem to affect you too much, I see! Let´s get it higher!”  
Now the feeling broke his skin open, it felt as if every piece of muscle was incinerating under the air, his stomach tried to help the heart by pumping and twitching crazy, breathing, was he still breathing? He couldn´t feel if his mouth was open or not, he couldn´t even feel if he was screaming. Every part of his brain was overloading, nothing but pain was able to be registered.  
Maybe Vincent said something before he turned to the next stage, maybe PG was crying or begging, but Mike couldn´t hear anything, think anything, as the pain went higher and higher, with his last power he tried to raise his head, but he couldn´t see anything anymore, except there was HIM, it was HIM, pink and black, smiling politely.  
“Good Evening Mr. Schmidt. Do you require some assistance perhaps?”  
NO, NOT YOU, DISAPPEAR, YOU SICK CREATURE! YOU DON`T GET TO BE THE LAST I SEE!  
Ignoring his protesting body he stood up, feeling every pain of his be replaced by a burning sensation.  
The Pink Guy stepped back, his face turning into a mess. “You are already occupied?!”  
“WHO D-DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! M-MAKING FUN OF ME?” Similar to a puppet on a string, he stood partially hanging over, electricity still flooding his body, but only showing itself in the constant twitching. Voices, thoughts, ideas swirled through his head, but they were alien, not belonging. No, this wasn´t anyone else, this was… “IT´S ME, ME, ME!” Laughter forced itself through his mouth, as he gripped the cables and digged his teeth into them, ripping them open to reveal their core. Laughter still erupted out of him, as he connected them with each other.  
Short circuit.  
Everything went dark once more, this time not by design.  
His pounding head barely made out Vincent´s voice.  
“ARE YOU CRAZY?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! THE PUPPET, HIS MUSIC BOX RELIES ON ELECTRICITY! YOU DOOMED US ALL, YOU MANIAC!”  
A melody started playing, as the Purple Guy restored the lights.  
Round and round the rosary bush, the monkey chased the weasel…  
The monkey thought it´s all for fun!  
POP goes the weasel!  
Spiteful the psychopath locked eyes with Mike. “You… you think you´re clever, huh? Now no one makes it out alive!”  
Mike felt the smile on his face, but wasn´t sure how it got up there and what kept it in place.  
A cold sensation crawled up his arms, as a voice echoed.  
OoooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOO….  
It´s me!  
Vincent spit on the ground making a step back. Out of the shadows reached thin lines, combining with each other, forming something humanoid… the marionette arrived. It´s dead face was giving a haunting expression, as the lights began to flicker in his eyes.  
I see, three of the four traitors, all in line for their condemning.  
It floated closer, the movement unnaturally fluid. Towering over the three Guards, it tugged back the cloth around his long fingers, revealing sharp, thin claws.  
I would consider thanking you, but it is obvious that you simply failed at each of your plans. Now, without further ado, it is time to end you three for your crimes.  
Mike struggled now to keep breathing, but still managed to spit out his next words. “T-three…? Let… let Phone Guy go… he… didn´t… and w-what did I ever do to you?!”  
Pitiful, your attempts at staying alive. To your information… if you are not helping me, you are harming me. I do not react kindly to harming.  
“What t-the fuck is that for flawed logic?! Do… do you want to kill the whole w-world, just because they didn´t help you?!”  
You ignored my pleas, the Phone Guy ignored the ongoing slaughter and the Purple Guy…  
The thing turned, crocking his neck into obscure position, facing Vincent.  
You will be last. It is time for the suffering I dreamt up for you to become reality! Now, my dear friends come to feast! The time of freedom has finally come!  
A pause ensued, where obviously something was supposed to happen, and stretched into a small eternity.  
Did you do something to the machines?!  
“Nah, boi, I didn´t do anything, maybe they´re just sick of your shit!”  
You should watch your tone, considering your bad situation.  
“Ah, fuck yourself, puppet-boi! I´ve had been through worse, honestly.”  
For this amount of disrespect, I shall-  
A loud noise interrupted, it sounded as if something heavy fell of the stage.  
“Shit, shit, no, frick, this wasn´t how it was supposed to- argh, goddammit, my knee, why does this always happen to me?!”  
Mike knew that voice.  
The marionette raised its long arm, turning on the stage-lights. Jumping around on one leg, right in front of it was the same orange guy he´d seen this morning by the employees’ entrance. The others seemed to recognize him as well, especially the puppet reacted explosive.  
Oh! It is YOU! Four of four, today might be the luckiest day I ever had!  
“YES! It is I, the interrupting Orange Man! Or at least that was what I wanted to say, but now I´m not sure if I should say “It´s me!” because it´s going with the theme and I don´t want to be left out, but it could get repetitive at this point, so I still think my reference is better… but do I look a little bit to fan-boyish? Am I coming on too strong?! Shit, I had the PERFECT PLAN! Coming in as the deus ex machina, saving the situation by deactivating the robots, then stand here all cool…”  
For a while it stayed quiet, then the Purple Guy made a single step forward, his face full of disbelieve.  
Nervous the new guy rubbed his still paining leg. “H-hey Dave, I´m sorry, I know it´s been a while and I´m sorry, you´re probably angry, I´ll tell you what happened, but it´s a REALLY long story, starting with that one day where I took the cocaine together with those colorful pills and then the shadow doggo appeared and talked to me-” He stopped and dropped his head, fearing the reaction he would get. “I´m back.”  
Two more steps followed, while Vincent´s mouth turned into a giant grin. With open arms he stood in the middle of the room. “Why… hello there, Old Sport! I didn´t expect you to come back…”  
With an odd noise the Orange Guy ran over, ignoring everyone else completely and jumped his friend, hugging him tightly.  
Mike watched the scene, actually whishing he was dead. Like, what the fuck was even going on anymore, this whole place was on drugs. Luckily though, he wasn´t the only one thinking that.  
EXCUSE me, but would you mind paying attention to the floating, supernatural machine in the middle of the room?! I am still a threat, even without my friends! How about taking this situation even REMOTELY serious for a moment?!  
“Yeah, shit, you´re right!” The Orange Guy facepalmed then started to shake his friend violently back and forth. “WHAT THE FUCK DAVE! I`M AWAY FOR LESS THAN A YEAR AND WHAT DO YOU GREET ME WITH?! THE PUPPET IS OUT, THE PHONE IS STRAPPED TO A CHAIR AND SOME POOR NEWBIE LIES IN THE CORNER, COMPLETELY TORN! I CAN`T TRUST YOU WITH ANYTHING ANYMORE! WHAT´S SO HARD ABOUT WAITING FOR ME, BEFORE YOU DO YOUR SHIT?”  
Enticed, without changing his smile the Purple Guy answered. “You´re ADORABLE when you´re mad.”  
This line most certainly succeeded in stopping the rant, as the guy almost choked and started coughing, embarrassed.  
“Y-yeah, that won´t save you from having to explain this later to me! Now, where were we? Right, the no-threat-puppet. Admit you can´t do anything now. You can´t use your fancy soul-abilities on someone who doesn´t has a soul and you can´t attack physically, since we outnumber you. Just go back to sleep, alright? I and Dave have a little bit of catching up to do…”  
The being hissed, clearly not ready to just give up. It frankly started to changed position, trying to find a blind spot to attack.  
Mike didn´t feel like caring about anything anymore. Sluggish he freed PG and turned to the new one. “Who. The living fuck. Are. You?”  
“I´m Old Sport! I worked in a previous joint and want to get my position back!”  
“Old Sport? What´s that for a fucking stupid name?”  
“Better than being called Phone Guy, amIrite?”  
The mentioned one didn´t appreciate the calmed behavior of his employees. “Please, don´t we have somewhat more important things to do right now?!”  
“Chill Phoney, I deus ex machina-ed the problem! We can simply walk out of the front door now!” In a good mood the Orange Guy strolled over back to the stage, picking his belongings up. “Let´s wrap this up, shall we? Phoney, do you-”  
“I-I-I smell Pur-ur-rple-e…”  
The Toys had started to freak out, their bodies moving towards the exit of the stage.  
“U-uh… Dave…? Are these… you know… MINE?”  
“Yeah, we shipped them over after a short check-up.”  
“Shit, why didn´t you tell me?”  
“HOW? You didn´t even CALL me!”  
“Really?! That is the issue you want to discuss now? Me not calling, instead of us maybe dying?”  
Phone Guy took charge. “To the prize corner! Electricity is able to stun them, each of you; get a Taser! I will try and unlock the front door!”  
The Guard, who started to consider calling himself Gray Guy, considering everyone was a fucking color by now, was sick and tired. “What good does stunning do, if they won´t stop?!”  
They reached the prize corner, Dave and Old Sport took each one of the handy Tasers. Mike watched the animatronics approaching, the all-seeing marionette floating above them.  
Who is outnumbered now, traitor? You shall regret not vanishing the one time you had the chance to.  
Hatred. Blank hatred, not even the burning version, filled Mike´s mind.  
The moving animatronics made him mad.  
The taunting words of the puppet made him mad.  
The smell of his own burned flesh made him mad.  
He reached into the prize corner, grabbing a crowbar. The Purple Guy tried to intervene, but Mike ignored him. “Listen Mikey, you can´t simply take down five animatronics with a crowbar! I once tried that, it went quite bad.”  
Step by step he met the machines halfway, staring them down, unblinking. They stopped, uncertain what would happen next.  
Mike knew exactly what would happen next.  
“RUN.”  
With one violent movement he rushed forward, swinging the crowbar as efficiently as possible at Toy-Bonnie´s head, ripping it half way open. Suddenly he stood and jammed the crowbar between two of Toy-Chica´s plates, breaking the technic underneath.  
Balloon Boy tried to claw himself into his arms, but was thrown away, into the ground.  
Again and again Mike let his weapon crash into Toy-Freddy´s chest, carving it in, until the bear stumbled over, unable to move anything but his teeth.  
The now broken Toy-Bonnie attacked him with his hands, making the fatal mistakes to go after his throat and not his crowbar and was greeted with said crowbar now buried right between the glowing dots where his eyes belonged previously.  
After everything stopped moving, Mike turned around. Robot parts were scattered everywhere, his co-workers watched him with big eyes.  
Then Old Sport applauded. “GEEZ, I THOUGHT YOU WERE A NO-NAME DUDE, BUT DAMN! Going at them like a machine yourself! You´re awesome!”  
God, he was so tired.  
Slowly he went over to the now open exit, only nodding at his boss. “I´ll have a sleep in tomorrow, see you.”  
“W-wait, Mike! How about… I… I really don´t want to leave you alone like that… you doesn´t seem in the right condition to be on your own…”  
“OH, GOLLY GOSH, MR. PHONE MAN, I FEEL GREAT! WHATEVER GAVE YOU THE IDEA I´M NOT IN A GOOD CONDITION!?”  
“From emotional apathy to sarcasm in less than two seconds! I´m impressed.” His smile was forced, but it was simply too hard to keep serious now. “W-well, how about… you come to my apartment? I live close by and you wouldn´t be left on your own…”  
“Thanks, but I think I´d rather be alone right now…”  
“Please, we have a LOT to talk about!”  
It clicked that there was probably a bit more behind the offer than simple worry. “Fine. But I get a real bed.”  
“Yes, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Deus ex machina´s are lovely, right? I mean, I can probably not justify what I did this chapter. Bloody hell, I need to get gud at story-telling.  
> So, the official introduction of Old Sport! After all this time, amIrite?!  
> Believe me, I´m fucking STUDYING the Dayshift at Freddy´s 2 game and really pour my best into replicating the general behavior of Old Sport, coming up with his character as carefree, cheerful and absolutely, insultingly thoughtless. His relationship displayed in the games with Dave seems to be weirdly intimate, seeing as Dave simply accepts Old Sport, even if he harmed him in the last ending.  
> I better stop here, before it becomes a ramble or a whole lecture.  
> What do you think of this version of Old Sport? Yay or nay? Should I change him a little?  
> Hope you enjoyed! ^^


	9. Old friend, new friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike accepts friendship and Old Sport get´s comfortable in his new position. Honestly, even the weekends at Freddy´s aren´t helping anyone relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slowly start to fear that I´m rushing... well, I sure hope you enjoy it anyway!

Mike was surprised, even stunned, that his employer didn´t force him to talk about what happened right away. The man didn´t even ask any questions. He showed him a room, clean but fairly barebones, and brought him ice and bandages.  
Before Mike could accept though, Phone Guy took them back away. “We said I would be the one who nurses you back to health next time.”  
“How about no? That was a fucking joke.”  
“You can´t reach your back and it´s childish of you to deny my help.”  
Silence commenced, as Phone Guy signed him to take off his shirt. He complied, but not without weak protest.  
“What does bandaging it even do? This shit went under my new skin, didn´t it?”  
“Yes, which is why I have this liniment here. It goes through the skin, but that takes a while-”  
“For how stupid do you take me?! I KNOW how that shit works!”  
“Fine, I´m sorry. Now hold still.”  
The injured man tried his best and even if he flinched every other second, he managed to get over it quickly. The ice numbed the pain enough and for the night and his… partner had placed painkiller on the nightstand.  
Finishing up, the Head-Guard sat down next to him with enough space and started to speak.  
“It´s quite the miracle that you are still alive. How did you continue to stay conscious?”  
“… I don´t know. All monster are hard to kill. Maybe I´m a monster in body, just as much as in spirit.”  
“Please, stop with this over-the-top self-loathing. You´re as much of a monster as… well, at least less of a monster than me.”  
“Fuck this. It´s time to stop with the guilt bullshit.”  
“Wise words.”  
“Are you sarcastic?”  
“No… not much. It´s just not that easy. You´re probably struggling to stay awake, so I guess I´ll be in the next room if you need me.”  
The bed wasn´t uncomfortable, yet Mike couldn´t sleep for a long time. He listen to the Phone, who made different calls, his voice being muffled through the walls.  
Slowly he drifted away.  
Is this him?  
No, it isn´t.  
Then why did he do it?  
I don´t know! Maybe he is on HIS side.  
No, that doesn´t make sense.  
He did THIS to us! We HAVE to take revenge!  
Maybe he didn´t know what he was doing?  
How would YOU know?  
I don´t, but we could ask him!  
Go ahead!  
No, you should do it! He likes you!  
No, one of the girls should do it! Girls can always easily get what they want!  
That is stupid! Let´s make him die!  
But, if we are wrong, we are terrible children! And mommy said bad children can´t go to where the good souls go!  
Yeah, it would be horrible if I wouldn´t be allowed to see my family again!  
What if he thought he helped us with this? Give him the benefit of the doubt!  
At least we´re not stuck in the stupid suits anymore…  
Let´s ask him for help! If he refuses and laughs, he is a bad man and we can take revenge.  
Mike reopened his eyes.  
Sun shone through the window, the whole room was colored yellow.  
Slowly he rose, all his body aching, begging to not move and simply lay down until he died. Out of breath he sat on the edge of bed, recollecting his hazy memory.  
It wasn´t very successful, since the smell and constant frizzling of breakfast distracted him.  
Fighting with his paining legs to stand up and get something to eat, Mike struggled a while, but thankfully he didn´t need to win, Phone Guy entered with different plates.  
“Do you prefer a sweet or salty breakfast?”  
“What?”  
“Eggs and Bacon or pancakes?”  
“Did you seriously made two different dishes for me?”  
“Of course not! One of them is for me. I just like both types of food in the morning, so I thought I give you the right to choose.”  
“Give me the eggs.”  
They ate together, which made Mike feel slightly uncomfortable. This wasn´t a situation he was used to, not even when he was little was there anyone eating together with him. Once or twice classmates mentioned that it was some kind of family tradition to eat together, but Mike couldn´t understand it. Why would you sit with someone, just because you want to eat? You can´t even talk while eating!  
Hopefully the Phone would soon start with whatever he wanted to discuss with him, so he could leave as soon as possible.  
His prayers were heard, after finishing, the man began talking.  
“Mike, do you want to terminate your contract and seek another job? I don´t blame you. Of course you will get a good review, praising your stellar performance. I should probably fire Jeremy too. He won´t understand it, but…”  
“What?! What the FUCK are you even talking about?!”  
“My conscience is unable to allow you two to keep working at Freddy´s.”  
“WHY? Seriously, what did change? What, did the robots got now MORE dangerous?! Is the death-percentage now by 90% instead of 80%?!”  
“Stop joking around, I get it!” PG rested his head on his hands. “But you don´t understand the current situation. You don´t know who just entered the restaurant. You… it´s bad. It´s worse than regular Freddy. With him we can be sure that… we will be degenerated to playthings.”  
“You´re exaggerating.”  
“Not even remotely.”  
“Who is that guy even? What´s his real name?”  
“I don´t know, to be honest. He only calls himself Old Sport, but that might be because of Vincent. They were… friends in the last joint.”  
“Friends?”  
“They worked together. They are a scarily good team. Just between us, Vincent obsesses over him, it´s terrifying.”  
“Obsessing? I´m surprised he even has the concentration to focus on any-fucking-thing for more than two days. What did they do?”  
“Trying to destroy the chain, tampering with the robot´s and they were the reason for the bite of ´87. There were more things happening in that week, but… I´m not sure how much they were involved.”  
“So, we basically have now two psychopaths in the place? Who encourage each other? Fucking great. What´s the plan?”  
“There isn´t one. We stand no chance. There´s NOTHING we can do. That´s why I want you to leave.”  
Mike raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, right, fuck that. I´m not going anywhere.”  
“Even I would leave if I could! How suicidal ARE you?!”  
“Quite a bit, but that isn´t the thing. I won´t stand for this shit! I WON´T be bullied out of my job and I WON´T let myself be the victim of people who think they can do whatever they want!”  
The Guard tried to jump up for emphasis, but the stinging pain only resulted in him almost tripping over.  
“Please, Mike! Rest, don´t move so much!”  
Groaning he allowed his boss to help back on the bed. “What´s even the fucking time?”  
“Almost twelve, we´ve slept for quite a while.”  
“Shouldn´t you be at work?”  
“Are you insane? Freddy´s is closed for today and tomorrow is Sunday, so we have two free days. Not even I can go to work after this.”  
“Oh, so you DO get a free day at Freddy´s.”  
Nervously PG played with his cord. “Don´t tell the higher-ups about this.”  
Mike shrugged and stayed silent.  
“Y-you probably have a lot of questions now… I won´t lie to you. Ask if you want.”  
“Dear PG, do I seem like I care about anything Vincent said? He´s an asshole and nothing of worth comes out of his stupid mouth, so I don´t need to ask anything. Wait, there is one thing; why did… Old Sport... call him Dave?”  
“It was the name he used in the last establishment.”  
“… What the fuck do we tell Jeremy?”  
“Nothing. The less he knows, the safer he might be.”  
“Might?”  
“FREAKING HECK, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT VINCENT! HOW CAN I KNOW?!” His outburst was helpless and frustrated. Silence ensued. “Can I ask you a few questions?”  
“I can´t promise to answer.”  
“Did you work in one of the previous places?”  
“Nope.”  
“Why are you… so suicidal?”  
“Guess, you fucking idiot.”  
“Who did you scream at, as you were standing up?”  
“……. I don´t know. Nothing, most likely.”  
“What… what is the deal with your scars?”  
“Enough, I need space. Can I go home now?”  
“If… If you promise me to call me later.”  
“Jesus, what are you, my fucking girlfriend?!”  
“I´m worried something happens to you!”  
“So, you´re my mom?”  
“I AM YOUR FRIEND! AND I TAKE YOUR WELL-BEING SERIOUSLY!”  
“My… friend.”  
Embarrassed Phone Guy clawed into his receiver. “I´m sorry, I never really had a friend, but I thought this was the way it usual works…”  
“You want to call ME a friend?”  
“Yes, but if you mind-”  
“You´re fucking weird, Phone. Why would you want to be my friend?”  
“B-because I trust you! I… I basically want a confirmation that you´re fine with me and that you trust me as well!”  
“Trust you? The third original animatronic?”  
“I t-thought you didn´t believe anything he said!”  
“I know a human when I talk to one.”  
“And I´m not-? Please, Mike…” His voice was thin and desperate, the man hugged himself as the next words left his receiver. “I need you. I won´t be able to do this alone. Without you I… I´ll…”  
Mike turned back to him, on the way to the door. He was shivering.  
“You need me? ME? I thought you already gave up?”  
“If you won´t help me… I will be dead.”  
His words were filled with fear and hopelessness.  
Battered and bruised, scarred and alone.  
Now it clicked with Mike. Phone Guy was still dirty, his head was dented at one side and he was wearing the same clothing as yesterday.  
“It… It´s really bad, isn´t it?”  
“You can´t even imagine… I beg of you, you´re the only one I can talk to!”  
Without realizing Mike reached out and softly touched the mistreated metal. “Does it hurt?”  
“N-not much, I´m going to take care of it later…”  
“Really? You have the time to make breakfast, but not to patch yourself up?”  
Partly Mike asked himself if he was deliberately being manipulated. This all didn´t feel right.  
“Well, first I have to know if it´s worth it, you know? I mean, why should I repair myself, just to break at the end of the week?”  
“CAN I trust you PG?”  
The question came out of nothing. Frozen the Phone-head flashed back to one of his earlier jobs.  
Old Sport stood in front of the restaurant, obviously trying to pick a lock, without any knowledge on how to do so.  
He stepped in, right as the Guard gave up.  
“What on earth are you doing there?! Didn´t you get the memo? The place is closed down… at least for a while.”  
They shortly talked. Then he said it. There´s a birthday tomorrow, things are hard right now, can I count on you to come?  
Please… I need you to come tomorrow.  
“Of course! I´ll be there!” With a friendly smile.  
Back in reality he turned away. Maybe it was better like this.  
“No, you can´t. Have fun with your two free days.”  
Mike didn´t move, his hand hovered over the doorknob. Multiple thoughts were running through his head, creating a chaotic mess. But one of them was stronger than the others.  
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! FINE! FUCK YOU PHONE FACE! You owe me one for this. Guess I should rather call you… Phone-friend from now on. GOD, I could fucking BARF! This is so disgusting!”  
Irritated his “new” friend shook his head. “I just said you couldn´t trust me!”  
“First sign of honesty.”  
“Please Mike, stop toying with my emotions!”  
“I ALREADY CALLED YOU A FRIEND! Take it or leave it, I don´t care. I´m off now, cleaning the weak off of me. AND YES, I`LL CALL THIS EVENING. I expect you to have a plan on how to deal with them by that time.”  
Burning red, out of different reasons, he slammed the door shut before he could get any answer and rushed home. This shit was ridiculous.  
Silently he wondered what Vincent and his friend did after exiting the restaurant.  
Well, not like he would ever know, or care. 

Dave and Old Sport left the establishment together, their steps completely in synch.  
After a few steps they began to giggle and it turned into full blown laughter in a matter of seconds. Suddenly, in the spur of the moment, Dave grabbed Old Sport and carried him bridal-style, twirling him around.  
The Orange Guy squeaked and grabbed his collar, making Dave laugh even more. It´s been SO long.  
“Good work in there, Old Sport! We´ve did quite a number on the puppet! His face…pure GOLD! But you have a lot to tell me and let´s not do that out here… where do you live?”  
“Oh gee, you don´t know? Maybe I should keep it that way, so you can´t break in this time!”  
“I´ll find you and I´ll break into your house, one way or another. C´mon, make it easy for me and just tell me!”  
“If I do, will you carry me there?”  
“Oh, Old Sport, I´ll carry you wherever you want!”  
Slightly red the Guard snickered. “Just kidding. I live two streets away, number 87.”  
“How fitting! Love your sense for style and theme.” He started walking.  
“Uh… w-would you let me down?”  
“Nope~”  
“This is somewhat humiliating!”  
“Why? Not like there is anyone to see you like this.”  
“Even if there were five hundred people outside my house, you wouldn´t let me down, am I right?”  
“Yes~”  
“Jesus, you haven´t changed one bit. Hurry, I want to get down.”  
They arrived in front of the door and thankfully Dave was forced to let him down, since he got the keys. In the same second the door got unlocked, Dave crashed through it and began checking every room.  
Every room was accessible, all the secrets were safe in Old Sport´s head. Snickering he noticed how similar Old Sport´s home was to before. Same layout, same items, even a similar smell. The Guy probably only owned about three pictures, which he tended to hang up inside his bedroom. Wait, one was new. A fourth one with a signature. It showed them in Vegas.  
“It´s great to be back here again.”  
“You never were here before…”  
“Maybe, but look! It almost looks the same as the two places before!” Happy Dave jumped on the bed, making himself comfortable.  
Old Sport stared down on him, shaking his head, but couldn´t help himself and grinned.  
“I missed you Dave…”  
“While we´re at missing, I´m still missing an explanation why you vanished.”  
“It… I tripped out, like I said. Talked a while with the Shadow Doggo, woke up in a cell.”  
“Shit, I´m sorry, should have known better than giving you the hard stuff.”  
“Yeah, at least they couldn´t get my fingerprints, since I´ve bitten them off while hallucinating. I fled soon enough, but then the search began. I couldn´t simply walk into every Freddy´s, if they found my contract, they´d force me to stay. I watched every place I found for one week, hoping to catch you leaving or entering. Day after day I asked myself if you even worked at Freddy´s anymore, or if I should try to find you any other way. Too bad you´re so good at NOT leaving evidence about your existence.”  
“You were looking for me…” Dave was now laying on his stomach, his face resting on his hands, sparkling.  
What a child.  
“What were you doing all the time?”  
“Oh… Nothing special, I was suffering through boredom, annoyed some Phoneys and helped Freddy´s regain some of its territory ensuring controversies at Candy´s. But without you, it didn´t felt like anything worthwhile.”  
“You´re… kinda creepy, Dave.”  
“Huh? Why this time?”  
“Usually people shouldn´t get so quickly attached.”  
His expression turned annoyed. “Stop ya whining, Old Sport, you lost your right at calling me a creep after the thing you did to the Stripper-Fox that just wanted to ask if we need anything…”  
Burning red the Guy jumped up and interrupted. “I WAS HIGH! I DIDN´T KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING!”  
“So, why going to Vegas with someone you barely know? I think you’re the one who got attached quite quickly.”  
“Good god, it was a joke! I actually was kinda referring to you occupying my bed, as if it was yours.”  
“This is far from the…” Suddenly Dave stopped, his face frozen. “Yeah… Fine. I guess I overreacted a bit.”  
As the Purple Guy sat back up, sitting more normal this time, Old Sport mentally slapped himself for ruining the good mood.  
“Well, BETTER? I haven´t mentioned yet, but… I´ve got some surprises for you! I´ll show you later, YOU WILL LOVE IT!”  
“Seriously? Teasing me like that? Screw you Aubergine Man! At least tell me a bit about how the heck you got into the situation I found you in! I couldn´t catch everything while working on the robots.”  
“You´re really the creepy one of us, planning a whole reveal to impress me~”  
“Hush it! Now, why did you try to kill this Mike-Guy? I thought he was funny!”  
“Well, he put needles into my lunch.”  
“And? You poisoned a man.”  
“I HATE needles! I can´t STAND them! And he KNEW that! He even called it PAYBACK! That was stupid payback! I had to teach him better.”  
“You can´t teach a corpse, Dave.”  
“Why do you care that much? Do you know he´s in cahoots with Phoney, Old Sport?”  
“Really? Didn´t expect him to be on anyone´s side.”  
“He´s a cunt. A hypocritical, aggressive asshole.”  
“You´re really pissed off!”  
Dave slightly moved his head to the side, inspecting his orange friend. There was only one thing he wanted to know right now.  
“You´re... on my side, right Old Sport?”  
“Ha! What are you even asking for? We´re friends!”  
In an instant Dave fell back on the bed. “In that case this should be fine!”  
“You´re really… unbelievable.” Another thing popped into Old Sport´s mind. “Dave, have you been eating while I was gone?”  
“…….. Sometimes? C´mon, I don´t even NEED to eat!”  
The Orange Guy sighed and took out his phone and left the room. Thirty minutes later they were each chewing on their pizza.  
“How did you know I wanted anchovies and no sauce?!”  
“I asked you before what your favorite pizza is.”  
“Right, before you went to tamper with the Toys! I always thought that was sweet of you.”  
“Couldn´t make a pizza for you though… a shame.”  
The glowing smile he got was most certainly worth the potential ridicule.  
Their peaceful midnight snack was interrupted by Dave´s phone ringing, a call he accepted and turned loud enough for Old Sport to understand every single word of it.  
“H-hello? Hello! Vincent?”  
“Up and at them! Didn´t expect you to pester me that quickly! What do ya want, Phoney?”  
“First of- NO! You know what?! Tomorrow, you´ll be back at the establishment! ALONE! Someone has to get rid of the broken animatronics.”  
“I make you a deal, alright? You stop your bossing tone, I´ll take Old Sport with me and you won´t die the next time you enter the place!”  
“I… fine. I will… I will check up on you tomorrow, so no funny shenanigans!”  
“BACK TO FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDY`S! IT´S PEEEEEZEEEEER TOIME!”  
“A-are you with Old Sport?!”  
“Yeah, we´re talking about our time apart. Problem?”  
“N-no. See you later employees. While we´re at it, you´re of course back to your position, Old Sport. I expect you to give your best!”  
“Of course Mecha-man! I can´t wait!”  
“You´re… disturbing. Not even someone like you should LIKE working at Freddy´s. See you tomorrow.”  
It clicked and the connection was separated. They shared a laugh and Old Sport stretched his arms.  
“It´s late… we should get some shuteye. I… you´re going to sleep here, won´t you?”  
“You guessed it! Don´t worry, I´ll take the couch.”  
Old Sport hadn´t expected the sudden respect for privacy, but appreciated it anyway.  
After checking on his guest one more time he laid down in the dark room, trying to sleep.  
It took a while, but soon enough he felt another body slipping beside him, cuddling close and hugging him softly.  
Jackpot.  
Desperately he tried not to grin or blush to keep the illusion up. Finally he caught him doing this! To his surprise the man snuggled into him more. Most people avoided being close to him, feeling that there was something wrong with his body.  
The warmth slowly made him drowsy, as the sleep snuck onto him, in the end besting him and his intention to stay awake until he could scare Dave.  
At morning the Purple Guard had already vanished and obviously acted as if nothing has happen. Damn sneaky bastard.  
He sat at the kitchen table together with a can of tea and some notes.  
“Oh shit, there´s the british boi!”  
Surprised the Purple Guard stopped with the scribbling, which was probably nonsensical anyway and waved. “Who of us is the british BOI here? Me, because I drink the tea, or you because you own the bloody tea?”  
“Of course the one who uses bloody as very! What were you bloody expecting?”  
Good natured he sat down next to him, trying to sneak a peek at whatever Dave was doing, all the while pouring himself a cup.  
The tea spilled everywhere as he noticed that they were HIS POEMS. “W-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DID YOU LOOK INTO MY SECRET COMPARTMENT?! DON´T YOU THINK I HIDE THINGS FOR A REASON?!  
“I guess? But why would you put it front of my nose if you´re that secretive about it?”  
“THEY WERE H-I-D-D-E-N! VERY GOOD AS WELL! WHY DO YOU DO THIS?!”  
“To annoy you.” Ecstatic he leaned closer to grin at his face.  
“You´re the worst friend ever, AGAIN. First making it harder for me to kidnap the kids, then eating ALL the kebab by YOURSELF and NOW THIS! Out of my house, you demon!”  
“Nah, you´re too sweet to ever enforce that. Seriously, I love them, they´re hilarious! But of course, “Aubergine” is by far the best. “Mixed feelings”, eh? Sitting down in the evening to write about me… and it even appears quite old…” Smugly he wriggled his eyebrows.  
“I´m going to kill you. Failing that, I´ll castrate you.”  
“I would take the Phone more seriously than you right now.”  
“You sack of ratshit. While we´re at the Phone, should we… actually do what he wants?”  
“I could use the parts, so it pretty convenient.”  
“For what would you need metal that is filled with souls?”  
“They probably aren´t anymore. The kids can free themselves of a damaged body.”  
“Huh, that sure is convenient…”  
“That it is, old sport. So, wanna get going, or can I read some more of these impressive pieces of lyric?”  
“Shut it.”  
Snickering Dave teased his old friend all the way to the restaurant, delighting in all the annoyed and embarrassed faces and noises the Guard was able to make.  
Their bickering ended as they entered the establishment, Old Sport visibly got nostalgic. “How long has it been?” He took a deep breath. “Ah, child labor, old, rotten ingredients and death. I missed this SO much!”  
“You´re a psycho, Old Sport.”  
“Ah, c´mon, admit it! With me it can be quite enjoyable here, right?”  
“I guess you have to lack a soul to enjoy this place on your own, but yeah, it´s going to be GREAT!”  
They glanced at the main hall, where an unholy mess presented itself. Once again impressed, the Orange Guard whistled. “Wow, he did quite the number on them. Are you sure that guy is even human?”  
“Just between us, Old Sport… I think he might be like we and the robots are.”  
“You mean, he´s unkillable?”  
“I hooked him onto a fucking power cables, Old Sport! I haven´t googled it, but I´m pretty sure you shouldn´t be able to survive that as normal human.”  
Old Sport picked up tiny scrapes of metal, lost in thoughts. “So… is he like… me? Or rather like you?”  
“He isn´t soulless. But I don´t know anything more. Well, I have a theory that staying virgin for twenty and something years actually grants you superpowers. Seriously, judging by his aggression, he doesn´t even-”  
“WHAT exactly of this stuff do you need? Small and broken or the still functioning parts?”  
“Functioning. I want to reuse some of it.”  
“So, your surprise is a machine?”  
Bemused the Purple Guard grinned. “Nah, you won´t get ANY answer out of me. Stay patient. The surprise still need a lot improvement… you know what? I´ll work on that tomorrow and won´t stop until I´m able to show it off to you. But ONLY because it´s you!” He winked and got the response he hoped for, a violent turn away that did nothing to hide the slight blush.  
It was adorably easy to get him flustered.  
“Don´t overwork yourself, alright? AND, more importantly, DON´T leave me alone at work! What am I supposed to do without you?! How can I even THINK about fun without you?! I´m not a betraying son of an aubergine who goes around doing all the fun stuff on his own.”  
“Aw, you´re that broken over it? Calm down, I was keeping myself sane with that. Because I didn´t just VANISH and never even CALLED!”  
“You´re… fine, we´ll put that aside. But take my pleas seriously, I probably would accidently kill myself out of boredom… it would be my bore-DOOM.”  
“Jesus, AGAIN contender for corniest line of the year?”  
“I improved! You’re smiling, admit it!”  
“This is basically the only facial expression I have, Old Sport.”  
“You´re such a hypocrite! What´s with the “Old Sport” line you made after seeing my phone?”  
“I haven´t slept for eight days! What´s your excuse?”  
Seeing his younger companion pout that hard, he broke the façade and laughed. “You´re letting yourself being fooled FAR too easily! Of course I like your stupid puns!”  
“Why you calling them stupid then?!”  
“Well, I just like stupid things! But since we´re friends you could have guessed, right?”  
“Argh, WHY did I miss you again?”  
“Because you know I´m only joking! Come over here, you need a hug!”  
“Noooooooo! Go away!”  
“Should I? We´re finished here, so… are you sure you don´t want me around anymore?”  
Prideful Old Sport raised to his full height. “Acting as if I´m THAT depended on you? Screw you, I know how to entertain MYSELF!”  
“Are you sure about that?”  
“YES! Now leave, I want to have AWESOME, FUN, ADVENTURE time and that WITHOUT YOU!”  
Dave shook his head, convinced to have the high ground. “Fiiiiiine… you have my number. Just in case something “bad” happens.” He winked and exited the place.  
For dramatic reasons the Orange Guy went into the other direction and landed in front of the stage. Right, the animatronics needed to be booted up… sighing he got his crowbar out. Repairing the machines was always tedious… but it was worth it. His introduction ended not even half bad and Dave… well, Dave was there, a royal pain in the ass.  
Life finally felt colorful again.  
Humming he reconnected the different cables and parts.  
The problem with deactivating the machines wasn´t the reactivation and repair, it rather was the fact that it could take about two days to rebooting them, forcing the owners to keep the “free roam” on.  
Well, it was questionable it would even change anything shutting down the robots at night.  
Shortly he stared at the empty place.  
Welp, this was getting desolate quickly.  
Argh, since when was he such a whiny bitch?!  
Better question, since when was company so addictive?  
“Screw you Dave! I know how to have fun on my own!” Annoyed he wandered over to the music-box, hoping to distract himself from his loneliness.  
The lock was still firmly in place, thank god Dave had a padlock hidden inside the prize corner, so the puppet wasn´t on his throat right now. Repeatedly he knocked against the walls.  
“Heyo, Puppet-man! Haven´t seen you while your friends were ripped apart. Quite the coward, aren´t you?”  
Angry trashing was his answer.  
“Hehe, ah, come on, aren´t you happy to see me? You probably thought someone else stole your precious revenge.”  
Oh, I know I would get my revenge eventually. There is no possible world, in which you could resist coming back here… after all, where else could you got to? You will not ever die. You will not ever be able to stay anywhere else. No one will ever accept you. But the best… you will not ever be able to leave. Here a little secret for you… I considered never killing you. Letting you wander for eternity.  
“Oh gee, what made you reconsider?”  
Your rising affinity for murder and William.  
“Oh my, affinity, what a nice term. But I don´t like killing.”  
In that case it is even worse, it confirms how easily you are manipulated. How Fredbear could have been so mistaken in a human is worrying to say the least, your weakness should have been glaringly obvious from the moment the life left your body.  
“Listen, MAYBE I´m just tired of being a TOOL! I realized you just USED me! You decided my fate, without even making it obvious I could NEVER escape!”  
He told you! You promised! You cowardly, weak TRAITOR!  
“How should I have known what he really meant?! I WAS SCARED OF DEATH, ALRIGHT?!”  
In that case, you should appreciate the gift we made!  
“You make me sick, puppet. You turned into quite the monster yourself.” Angry he walked over to the prize corner, stealing gasoline and a lighter. “Hey, how about we make your innards fitting to the outside?”  
Do not DARE! You will be fired! This pointless act of violence will only further alienate you from your previous self!  
The puppet has always been able to leave the box in spirit, watching EVERYTHING going on inside the restaurant. It wasn´t a pretty ability, but despite how painful it was to see the terrible things in the establishment, it was necessary to remind himself to know no mercy for anyone in the building.  
What the being usually saw was horrifying and disgusting behavior, not only by the adults, by the children visiting as well. It was all corrupted and poisoned, every innocent soul coming into proximity became wrenched and wicked.  
So, he had seen quite the monstrosities. Was forced to face again and again the worst humanity had to offer.  
But never had he been afraid.  
Not after being abducted, not after being killed. He swore to himself, no such human emotion would influence him, not anymore. And he was proud of himself, he managed it.  
Until today.  
Old Sport had turned slightly, his eyes devoid of light. His smile just as dark.  
“Previous self? What a lovely term, dear marionette, but I will let you onto a guarded secret of mine… Maybe I do not wish to continue my… “Previous” existence.”  
Slowly he cut a small hole into the box and began pouring in the liquid.  
W-what are you doing?! What is wrong with you! You will be burn the whole establishment down!  
“Marionette, how do you lie into my face, without even the smallest creak in your voice? Maybe you thought I would not be able to tell that the box is reinforced with metal? I understand that you were trying to preserve your own existence, but I preferred you when you were more honest.”  
Who… who are you?  
“What are you talking about? It´s me, of course!” The smile brightened up, his eyes lit up as well. “Come on, this is not even hurting you! I just want to get rid of you for a while, stop acting like it´s the end of the world! You need a vacation… and an ass whooping.”  
Old Sport, I would seriously beg you to reconsider! Your actions not only harm other, they appear to harm you as well!  
“Stop trying to get out of this. It´s not like you´d actually care if something bad happens to me. See ya later, alligator!” In a good mood he activated the lighter and giggled. “Phoney is gonna be so mad!”  
He stepped back, admiring the small flames escaping through the hole. The puppet stayed silent, probably not even feeling anything.  
Of course he wasn´t feeling anything.  
But that wasn´t what he wanted… No.  
His body was feeling odd. Especially his head.  
Quickly he left towards the exit. The Phone would be there soon, so he maybe should try to act innocently. It would suck if Phone Guy was out to kill him from the get go.  
Half an hour later he logged into the computer as Phone Guy, curious what he would find. Two surprises waited for him there; Phone Guy had called himself actually Phone Guy on the PC and there was one more new employee next to Mike. Jeremy Fuckwhocanspellthatshit. Great, double the employees, double the fun!  
After an hour he considered finding a place to sleep or at least go to the kitchen to drink cold tomato sauce, but thankfully his boss showed up right when he was raising his body. Cheerfully he waved. Said boss wasn´t as excited for some reason.  
“Employee? Did you- wait, do I smell smoke?!”  
“Ah, I think you´re imagining it. While I repaired the robots they got quite heated, so maybe you smell that.”  
Distrustful Phone Guy was looking around, but couldn´t see anything on flames or smoking, so he got to the more pressing issues. “Where is Dave?”  
“Left, he wanted to prepare a surprise for me.”  
“Are the animatronics… fine?”  
“Yeah, booting up right now.” Smiling he inspected his old… acquaintance. “What are you telling the bosses and higher-ups? Animatronics don´t disappear without reason.”  
“Y-yes, I thought… maybe I´ll say that an intruder, o-or better, a Candy´s Burger and Fries agent infiltrated and destroyed our advanced machines out of spite.”  
“Protecting Mike, eh? How cute!”  
Defensive Phone Guy made a step back. “Is there a problem with that?”  
“No, I´m really proud of you! You´ve improved!”  
“You sound quite like Dave…”  
“Heh, well, that happens to me all the time…”  
They stayed silent for a while, both not knowing what to say after all this time.  
“So, uh… Phone-man! Wanna hang out?”  
In utter confusion, the older one stared at him. “Excuse me?”  
“C´mon, it´s a new start! I want to get to know you better! A new Phoney, a new fate!”  
“L-listen, I don´t really…”  
“Pls dad, don´t dis0wn me. I´m l0nely.”  
“You- You really think I would-?!” He broke off after seeing Old Sport´s pleading face. “F-fine. What do you want to do?”  
“Show me around the city, because I don´t even know where I can buy something to eat. I only found a tea-shop and kinda feel like I might starve soon.”  
“You haven´t even-”  
“I had fast food.”  
Phone Guy sighed and shook his head. How can something THAT deadly be that incompetent. At least he was sure the Orange Guy was a killer…  
But he couldn´t remember…  
He couldn´t REMEMBER the moments, the feelings, the thoughts…  
Moodier than a pregnant woman, more unpredictable than a druggie, more helpless than a teenager.  
How was he supposed to do ANYTHING?  
With big eyes the employee looked up to him. “Pwease help me big phone man~”  
“You´re making me uncomfortable. Come along now, I guess since you did your job I might as well establish a good relationship between us… after what happened in the last place.”  
“Hey, I won´t give you false hope, I´m not a liar. I´m planning to stay on the Dave-Route, no question asked.”  
“Dave-Route?!”  
“Yeah, how else would you call it?”  
This wasn´t worth questioning. He left towards the exit. “Get moving, I still have other plans!”  
Humming Old Sport ran alongside him, skipping like a little girl. “Can we go to the grocery store?! And buy some snacks?! And watch a Shrek marathon?!”  
“No.”  
“Can I at least prank call Candy´s with your Phone-head?”  
“…”  
“It´s gonna be fun!”  
“... Fine. But you say what I tell you.”  
How it ended up two hours later, escaping in a stolen car, screaming panicked at each other was a mystery for the ages.  
“WE CAN´T STAY ON THE RAODS IF WE WANT TO GET AWAY FROM THEM!”  
The car screeched painfully as Old Sport was making a sharp turn and ended up on unsteady ground.  
“DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE?!”  
“I STOLE THREE CARS ALREADY, OF COURSE I KNOW HOW!”  
“BUT YOU DON`T HAVE A LICENSE, RIGHT!? FOR HECKING DARN GOSH! LET ME TAKE OVER!”  
“GREAT IDEA, I CAN THROW THE STOLEN GOLD AT THEM!”  
“WHY DID YOU ATTEMPT TO HACK THE SECURITY SYSTEM VIA MY HEAD?! YOU DON´T EVEN KNOW HOW TO HACK, DO YOU?!”  
“I WATCHED THE MATRIX, I CAN INDEED HACK THE PENTAGON!”  
“YEAH, RIGHT, THAT`S WHY WE`RE HERE!”  
“IT WAS YOUR IDEA TO LAUNCH A NUKE AT CANDY`S TERRITORY!”  
“YOU WERE THE ONE NAGGING ME THAT CLOTHING SHOPPING WASN´T INTERESTING ENOUGH!”  
“BECAUSE YOU DIDN`T EVEN WANTED TO TRY ON THE DRESS I GAVE TO YOU!”  
“I HAVE MY PRIDE!”  
“I JUST WANTED TO HELP YOU!”  
Police sirens made it clear that the keepers of law and order were coming dangerously close, but they couldn´t drive any faster without running against a tree.  
“ALRIGHT, I HAVE AN IDEA!”  
“I DON`T LIKE YOUR KIND OF IDEAS EMPLOYEE!”  
“C´MON, WE ONLY HAVE TO KNOCK PUT TWO OFFICERS AND STEAL THEIR UNIFORM!”  
“THAT SOUNDS QUITE SENSIBLE FOR YOUR STANDARTS!”  
“I KNOW, RIGHT?! AT THE COUNT OF THREE WE JUMP OUT IF THE CAR, HIDE IN THE TREES AND WAIT FOR THE SLOWEST OF THEM TO DRIVE BACK!”  
“JUMPING OUT?! WE`RE AT 300 RIGHT NOW, THERE IS NO WAY WE´D SURVIVE THAT!  
“DO A BARREL ROLL!”  
“WHAT IS THAT?!”  
“THREE, TWO-”  
“EMPLOYEE!”  
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”  
Without any other option they leaped towards the softest patch of grass they could spot and made about twenty backflips, two dabs and one explosion.  
“W-where did the explosion come from?! The car is still driving!”  
“Who cares! Let´s get up the tree and hide!”  
“THAT WON`T WORK! THEY WILL SEE US FROM A MILE AWAY!”  
“Jesus, stay calm, boi! Better idea?”  
“Of course I have a better idea! I was trained to survive in the wild after all!”  
“Really? That´s impressive…”  
“We have to cover ourselves with leaves!”  
“They would run us over, b0ss!”  
“WE CAN`T GO TO JAIL!”  
“Don´t worry, I have another plan!”  
It were only three minutes until the police cars crashed through the nearest tree and setting the whole forest on fire. Two uniformed officer jumped out of it, their weapons raised, but they lowered them after seeing who was standing there.  
Two gentleman, one orange and one with a phone head. They had a fancy moustache and shaded monocles.  
“Excuse me swaggy gentlemen, have you seen two criminals around? They looked like you, expect with no game and poor.”  
Phone Guy got ready to say something, but Old Sport was quicker.  
“Poor you say? Ohohoho, ye must be jesting! My eyes would never bother picking up on such insignificant details as the working class!”  
“They looked really similar…”  
“Now, be gone peasant! The money has to talk!”  
One of the officer backed off, but the other one became suspicious. “Excuse me, but could I touch your moustache, sir?”  
Phoney slowly got nervous. Old Sport cocky nature was getting them in trouble.  
“Of course not, it is made out of pure successes and I will not let you steal it! You understand, this is why your birthgiver never cared about you. All you do is waste time, money and potential!”  
Before it could get any worse the rational Guard gave it a shot. “Oh do not bother, we will leave immediately. The funding for the new donut-shop can wait as well.”  
“N-No, dear Gentleswaggers, we´re leaving! Don´t worry! H-have a nice day!”  
They left and Phone Guy exchanged a glance with his co-worker.  
“That worked rather well, didn´t it?!”  
“Employee, why do you carry TWO fake moustaches and shaded monocles along with you?”  
“……. I predicted all of this. Yes. All of it.”  
Together they began to stroll over to the next bus stop. “Isn´t it odd how incompetent the police is? How many people with rotten, dead, orange skin or Phone for a head can there be?”  
“Well, as you once told me: I´m quite forgettable.”  
“Damn, did I really…? Sorry employee.”  
“Oh, no problem. I was nothing more than a springtrapped employee before. But I´m glad you actually remember me now!”  
With a small check Phoney saw the bright smile and friendly eyes.  
Old Sport wasn´t angry at him. There was nothing left of the grudge he had exhibited before.  
But there was no empathy either. No regret.  
Old Sport didn´t want to hurt him.  
But he would, if convenient.  
Without hesitation.  
Their ride back was quiet, only Old Sport was making small remarks and hummed.  
When they were back at Freddy´s they nodded at each other and left into different direction home.  
Surprisingly they had spent a few pleasant hours and despite both knowing it was nothing but the illusion of beginning a peaceful friendship, they still enjoyed it while it lasted. Of course, they used it mostly to carefully reach weak points and an impression of each other’s minds, yet they were fair enough to have honest fun.  
Or maybe it was only him who did that.  
Was the Orange Guy even corrupt enough for that?!  
Phone Guy winced.  
If he misjudged Old Sport and ruined their shot at redemption, he would never live it down.  
But if he acted too naïvely, Mike would be in danger as well.  
Mike, who trusted his judgment.  
Regretful he stared at his hands. He wasn´t supposed to be in a role of leadership. This wasn´t what he got hired for.  
“The job as entertainer can be quite important as well! You will, unfortunately, run into a situation you will blame yourself for.”  
“Yeah, but at least I will have a partner, someone just as responsible, who can help me face it!”  
“We here at Fredbear´s entertainment appreciate your positive attitude and welcome you into our family! Be responsible and kind, Mr.-”  
Blank.  
His head was blank.  
There was supposed to be a name.  
When… when was he ever applying to Fredbear´s?  
He worked at Freddy´s, didn´t he?!  
God, please, please, Mike, call me right now, I fear that I go insane, I need someone to talk to, RIGHT NOW.  
And he did.  
At the same time, two people in close proximity picked up their phone, getting ready to talk with their counterparts.  
“Why hello there, Old Sport!”  
“Hello, Phone… friend.”  
“…”  
Cosmic coincidence wanted their talk to be almost indistinguishable.  
“You´ve spent time with HIM!? Honestly?”  
“Good job, I guess? But did you find anything out?”  
“His “friend”?! C´mon we knew that before! Tell me better what you´re planning!”  
“FUN?!?”  
Here the short period of astronomical implausibility vanished.  
Purple Guy was somewhat sulky. “So, you´d rather have fun with him or what? Guess killing kids with good old Davey isn´t good enough anymore!”  
“Ah, you know you´re still the best! But who can we annoy if not the Phone? Without a Phone the whole place will be shut down in minutes.”  
“Pff, you can´t even IMAGINE what I´m capable of! I would run a horror attraction! As the star!”  
“Sounds about right.”  
The other conversation continued a bit less light-hearted.  
“Mike, I know it is hard for you to understand, but… for now it´s our best shot. Old Sport isn´t evil, at least not in the traditional sense, he is… curious. If we manage to distract him enough, we might don´t have to fear anything. But for that, we´ll have to make peace with Vincent as well.”  
“You´re basically asking me to simply go ahead and be like: Yeah, I know you FUCKING TRIED TO KILL ME, but doesn´t FUCKING MATTER, we´re still besties?!”  
“N-no, I mean yes, but…”  
“But?!”  
“Mike, we have two options. Either we entertain some demons or we´ll be ripped apart.”  
“I´m ready to die for what I believe in.”  
“BUT I´M NOT READY FOR YOU TO DO THAT. Here are your options: Either you h-hecking pretend to have amnesia about that last night, or you are fired!”  
It stayed silent for a while. “Alright Phone. But we better set a trap up quickly.”  
“I´m trying my best…”  
“… Do you… need… for me to visit?”  
How sensible.  
“No, I only need some sleep. Thank you for calling. It means a lot to me.”  
“Whatever you say, I guess… good evening, see you on Monday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My winter-melancholy is kicking in, so the next chapters might be written a little slower... they will stay in the two weeks frame though.  
> Only one day in and Old Sport is already starting with the insanity! Tell me if you think it´s fine that way, or if the characters are acting weird, my gloomy mood makes me really paranoid.  
> Thinking about you two´s comments are actually the only thing making me feel better, so I want to thank you for taking your time reading and commenting! The kind and supportive nature of your comments make me all giddy when I think about them! (But if you have any kind of criticism, don´t worry about posting it, after all I want to get better for you!)  
> Have a great day! x3


	10. Children and other sicknesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike and Old Sport didn´t do nuffin´all weekend. Nah-ah, no sir, everything is A-okay.  
> (Except Mike´s mental stability, but hey, what´s new about that?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After re-reading this chapter… please believe me that I´m actually doing my best.

It was hard to breath. All of his muscles were damaged and apparently his lungs weren´t spared either. The pain came in waves, slowly increasing instead of healing away.  
At this point Mike didn´t even want to open his eyes, which were sore and broken as well. In the end it was better that he hadn´t visited PG again.  
There was no way he´d do ANYTHING today, not if hell itself would break loose.  
“M-Mr. Nightguard?”  
Ahaha, how funny. Yeah, fuck his head.  
“M-Mike? You´re Mike, right?”  
“FUCK OFF, I´M NOT IN THE MOOD!”  
Murmur as from at least four voices started to ensue. Slowly he forced his right eye open, just to be sure. There was no one in the room, the voices were imaginary.  
Or at least that was until something jumped on his chest and squeezed the life out of him.  
“You d-dumb Nightguard! If you don´t listen to us, you´ll be deaded!”  
“I´m already dying, GET THE FUCK OFF MY CHEST!”  
The same squeaky, annoying voice continued, talking to the murmuring ones. “I TOLD you he is evil! We will have our revenge!”  
A slightly softer voice weighed in, maybe of a young boy. “C-come on Foxy, he isn´t even fully awake!” Softly his side was nudged. “Please Mr. Nightguard, we have important things to ask of you and we really can´t wait, so please, please, PLEASE, listen!”  
Groaning Mike reached towards his pills. Usually his delusions were more aggressive, but it was an issue nonetheless.  
“Look, he´s standing up! He DOES care about us! So no more of the stupid killing plan!”  
“Wait, killing plan?” The Guard stopped dead in his tracks.  
“P-please don´t be angry, but Toy-Foxy thought you hurt us because you were evil… w-we would never hurt you without evidence!”  
“Toy-Foxy… you mean the Trashpile?”  
“DON`T CALL ME THAT!”  
The lights exploded and a shower of sparks rained down. The boy from before sighed. “Great, now what? You have to apologize!”  
“NEVER! ONLY IF HE APOLOGIZES FIRST!”  
“Why THE FUCK should I?! You were LITERALLY a trashpile, stuffed with fleshlights! AND YOU RUINED MY LAMPS!”  
“AND YOU`RE LITERALLY AN ASSHOLE THAT HAS A FACE!”  
“AT LEAST I HAVE ONLY ONE FUCKING FACE AND NOT TWO!”  
“Stop screaming at each other, you dummies! Toy-Foxy, play nice! He is our only hope! And you, Nightguard, please be patient! We never got to age that much…”  
Desperate Mike turned around. If it wasn´t too bad he was supposed to keep off his medication, but he started to get not only auditory and visual hallucinations, but physical as well.  
“H-how about I make you a tea, Mister? Mom taught me that tea can be very helpful!”  
“Yeah, why the fuck not I guess…”  
He slowly dragged himself to the kitchen, where a teapot was floating around, preparing itself.  
“Hey, since you´re obviously the ghost of the robots that I destroyed yesterday, why didn´t you do this magically-floating-voodo to attack me after I got you?”  
“We can´t really use this when we´re angry… I dunno why.”  
After seven minutes Mike sat before a cup of tea, judging the situation carefully. If this was nothing but a delusion, it was probably harmless enough for him to stay off the pills. Especially since he had downed a few painkillers and wasn´t sure about the effects the mixture would have.  
If it wasn´t… well, he just magically survived an attempt at his life. He wasn´t in the position to complain. There wasn´t the usual feel of dread and paranoia as well, so for now he would-  
Yeah Mike, great idea, play along with killers AND hallucinations, nothing could go wrong here! They´re TOTALLY the ghost in the machine. Go ahead, make more imaginary decisions.  
Before he decided to take a sip of what could potentially be bleach, he wandered off to the window.  
-Mr. Schmidt, here is the medicine, but do take the warnings on the side of the package serious. If you aren´t entirely sure if your condition is worse enough to justify the usage of the medicine, you may want to check your surroundings. Hallucinations have rarely the ability to create enormous detail.-  
Out of the window stretched streets and buildings, birds flew up here and there. If he concentrated enough, he was able to make out single leafs in the distance, being swirled around by the wind.  
So. Looks like this was at least partly real. The tea was most likely safe to drink.  
He returned to the table, the room stayed silent. Maybe his fit was already over.  
“STOP staring at me!”  
Well, there it goes again. “How can I stare at you if I can´t fucking see you?”  
“You can´t see us?”  
“What made you assume I could?”  
They seemed to talk with each other, but it was far too silent for Mike to catch.  
“I have an idea! Make it dark! Ghost can be seen at night, right?”  
For fuck´s sake, alright, back to the window and shut the blinds. Darkness engulfed the room, making five small phantoms visible. They sat all around the tiny kitchen, somewhat sunken into themselves, all wearing masks. Masks of the Toys. Masks that were never produced.  
All their eyes were probably focused on him, but since they were lacking actual eyes he could only guess. Filled with expectation they sat up a little straighter.  
“Can you see us now?” The Toy-Bonnie tilted it´s head.  
“Yeah, you´re all terrifying as fuck.”  
One girl, wearing a Toy-Foxy mask, huffed and turned away. “Gee, the human-dumb finally DID something! Will you help us now or what?”  
“Give me one reason to help someone who calls me dumb.”  
“Give ME one reason to not kill the guy who destroyed the last bit of my undead life!”  
“Fair enough. First things first: When I destroyed your body, I was defending myself, because you were fucking trying to kill EVERYONE!”  
“We were getting revenge! You can´t understand that!”  
“On WHO?”  
The doorbell shrilled and in an instant everything snapped back to reality. Quickly he opened the blinds and answered the door.  
Only difficulty being, that the door didn´t needed to be opened anymore, as a beam of orange light vaporized it and holy music echoed through the whole place. An orange foot showed itself.  
“Mike and Mikelman, IT IS I! With the best entrances and most mystical of motivations! THE ONE AND ONLY ORANGE GUY!”  
In a stupor Mike stared up at him, not even angry. “What… what the fuck…?”  
“EXACTLY! I knew you would understand me!”  
“Can you like… leave my fucking place?”  
“YES! MIKE I SEE YOUR ARGUMENT! BUT HEAR ME OUT! We have a WHOLE day in front of us! A day made out of boredom and emptiness! UNLESS we spend it together!”  
Now the anger slowly dripped back in. “WHAT THE LITERAL FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY DOOR YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I NEEDED THAT! THE SECOND FUCKING THING THAT GOT DESTROYED WITHOUT REASON!”  
“You can live with me if you want!”  
“I´D RATHER KILL YOU RIGHT NOW!”  
He lunged at him fully in attack mode and was not regretting hitting and seeing him flung against the next wall.  
“Jesus, you have a punch! S-sorry, I´ll repair your door, I promise! It´s just, I wanted to thank my hero! After all, you saved me yesterday!”  
Surprised Mike shortly halted, inclining Old Sport to smile relieved. “Hero?”  
“YEAH! You´re the ultimate badass! I NEVER managed to fight against FIVE robots at once! SO AWESOME! Tell me your secret!”  
“Could… could you first explain to me how and why the fuck you destroyed my door?”  
“C´mon, I said I was excited! Fine, fine, what kind of door would you like me to get you?”  
“Pure metal.”  
“You always looked like the type who is into metal.” Spastically one of his eyes twitched, it might was supposed to be a wink, but the speed of it made it look like more of a stroke.  
“What…?”  
“Goddammit, I hoped you´d get it… ah, whatever. You´re still cool though! LET`S GO NOW, IT`S TIME FOR ADVENTURE! When we are back it´ll be repaired, I promise!”  
With that Mike was already dragged off towards outside. In an odd way this guy reminded him of Jeremy. Probably because of his constant jumping and moving, the energy unusual to this world.  
“Where the living fuck are we even going?”  
“Good question! Let´s go to the graveyard!”  
“WHAT THE FUCK?”  
“Not good?”  
“Are you HONESTLY asking?!”  
“Any better idea? I thought about a nice picnic and some grave robbing…”  
“What a retarded joke. I´d rather get lost in the forest.”  
“Alright then, let´s GO! Or do you need to for-REST before that?”  
“I´m going the fuck back to my house.”  
“NOOOOOOOO PLS! IMMA BE A GOOD BOY! A-AND THE REPAIRS AREN´T DONE YET! IT`S TOO LOUD FOR YOUR NERVES! Please, please, I wanted to talk with you!”  
“Then get to the fucking point.”  
“Let´s go at least to the park, it´s not really pleasant around here…”  
“No more puns.”  
“Promise!”  
They found a rather secluded bench and despite the day being gray and fairly cold Mike´s amount of annoyed uncomfortableness stayed roughly the same. Skeptical he listened to the new guy´s words.  
“First of all I´d like to apologize for whatever Dave did to you on Friday. He´s… a bit… emotional, you know?”  
“Yeah, right, now everything is alright again, I should TOTALLY forgive him now for trying to kill me.”  
“No excuses, only explanations. Secondly I would love to say thank you, once more, you haven´t only saved yourself, but everyone in the restaurant by destroying them. Don´t let Phoney drag you down if he complains about it, he´s… he doesn´t has a sense of priority. I´ve worked with him for quite a while, he can be nice, but he´s SO confused all the time!”  
“Tell me about it… he doesn’t even lets you have any justice. DON`T KICK BONNIE´S SHINS, EMPLOYEE, OR WE CUT YOUR PAY!”  
“WHAT?! HE PAYS YOU?”  
Irritated Mike glanced at him. “Oh, now don´t lie to me. He HAS to pay us, right?”  
“He pays me in Tokens.”  
“WHAT?!”  
“Yeah. I literally live of pizza and soda.”  
“How is that even possible?!”  
Old Sport laughed and shrugged. “I´m resistant against death. Well, Dave told me you and Phoney get along well? Could you… maybe… try to get him to give me real money? I mean, I once stopped a mass-shooting and only got 500 Tokens instead of something I could USE.”  
“You stopped a shooting?”  
“Yeah, luckily I had a Taser on hand. By the way, you should definitely invest in one of them, they can save your life in so many situations!”  
“I guess…? But I´d rather not have to play those stupid arcade games.”  
“Eh, you could just pick fleshlights out of the trashpile and sell them to Matt… oh wait, right, there´s no more trashpile. That sucks, it was my main income.”  
“Matt buys…”  
“Didn´t you know? He know how to get you firecrackers as well, professional and discrete.”  
“Thanks for making me even more terrified of him.”  
“Hehe, I was already at the maximum of fear when I first saw his smile.”  
“… You´re right.”  
Mike was feeling surprisingly relaxed. It was rare for people to not get under his skin immediately, especially for someone who destroyed his property. Paranoia crept up in his mind. Why was he believing this lunatic about the pay-thing? Or about Matt? Why did he allow the friend of a psycho to lure him to a secure area?!  
The Orange Guard´s smile started to falter as he saw the changed facial expression of his companion. “Are you alright, Mike? What´s on your mind?”  
“How did you and Vincent even became friends?”  
“Vincent…? You mean Dave! Well, to keep it simple… First time I came to the place he wanted to befriend me, but he was fairly creepy and I believed Phone Guy when he warned me. That job went catastrophically bad and after making these bad experiences with the Phone I just thought I could give him at least a shot. And honestly I had an amazing time!”  
“I´ve heard you tampered with the machines? Planning to destroy the whole franchise?”  
“Mike… you were fired for “tampering” with the animatronics yourself, weren´t you?”  
“How do you know that?!”  
“I know the password to Phoney´s account and he keeps our logs there.”  
“What´s his password?”  
Grinning the guy wriggled his eyebrows at him. “Got curious? It´s Foxylover123, all caps.”  
Mike considered this new information. “So you want to say PG overreacts?”  
“PG? What a great term for him… and of course he does! Have you ever tried mentioning Candy´s around him?!”  
Overreactions, huh… Made somewhat sense. If he knew about one thing it was overreactions. Doubtful he inspected the man next to him. The Orange Guy smiled friendly at him.  
Old Sport isn´t evil, at least in the traditional sense.  
Said guy started to chuckle. “Dave told me you´re a total asshole that cussed at everyone. Guess he was pretty wrong.”  
“Between us, I have no idea what´s wrong with me today, usually I´d tell you to fuck off and leave me the fuck alone, but today my rage is just gone. I have no fucking idea where it is.”  
“Maybe it´s healing your body?”  
“Yeah, because that makes fucking sense.”  
“Very little in this world makes sense… you only have to find out how to use that to your advantage.”  
“Oh gee, the next person who wants to play my dad.”  
“Hey! I´m just friendly!” Pouting he turned away. “Alright then, moving on from helpful life advice…” Silently he smiled, drifting off.  
“You still there?”  
“Oh. Sorry. Hey, do you like dogs?”  
“Not really. They tend to annoy me.”  
“WHAT? YOU FREAK!”  
“Fuck you. I can dislike whatever I want.”  
“I have an idea, come along!”  
Suspicious Mike kept behind him, wondering what the guy was planning. They ended up at the animal shelter.  
“Wanna help me?”  
“With what? What the fuck are you planning?”  
“FREEDOM FOR ALL THE BEINGS! RIOT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT! R E V O L U T I O N!”  
“How about no- wait! STOP RIGHT THERE!”  
Too late, Old Sport was inside the building by now. Swearing Mike tried to catch up to him, to prevent the worst. How could someone so skinny be this quick?!  
Scared the workers jumped to the side as two lunatics raced through the corridors, both screaming off the top of their lungs. They headed right for the big red button on the side that said “in case of fire, break glass”.  
The forces of chaos were faster and now the alarm was shrilling and the cages opened.  
An abundance of dogs, some cats, few mice and a bear were now roaring angrily.  
“W-why do they have a FUCKING BEAR HERE?!”  
Old Sport was riding on the bear, screaming loudly. “WE ARE FREE MY FURRY FRIENDS! IT´S TIME TO TAKE REVENGE ON THE WORLD! MIKE! GET THE LION AND LET`S BECOME THE LEADER OF THIS REVOLUTION!”  
“A LION?!”  
Loud roaring ensued as the giant beast jumped out of the shadows and next to him.  
This was getting ridiculous, he must hallucinating.  
“COME ON! THE BRAND NEW WORLD ORDER WAITS FOR US!”  
But now it was too late anyway, right?  
He always wanted to ride a lion. Ever since he found out that dinosaurs went extinct.  
“JESUS! YOU CAN SMILE, MIKE!? HECK YEAH!”  
They rode towards the centrum of the city, left and ride were strangers either joining or mowed down. Howling and screeching, together with the wind on his face and the smooth jumps of the lion made him euphoric in a way he never had felt before. THIS WAS THE REVOLUTION!  
The government tried their best to fight them off, but not even the attack helicopter could do anything, as the wild birds already had joined the fight.  
After only a few minutes the people of the city caved in and the message was spread enough to force the government to change tactics.  
They faced the main politicians of the area and Old Sport jumped down from his bear. “WE HAVE COME TO BRING WORD OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER! WE ARE HERE TO TALK, BUT WON´T HESITATE TO USE VIOLENCE!”  
The animals growled in agreement, but suddenly Old Sport was pushed aside by Mike. His eyes glowed dangerously as he stood between the human and the animals, raising to his full height.  
“NO! THE TIME TO TALK IS OVER! YOU WERE THE PUPPET MASTERS, SEPERATING US FROM OUR ANIMAL BROTHERS AND SISTERS, MAKING US BELIEVE THAT WE WERE WORTH MORE BUT FOOLING US ONLY INTO BECOMING WEAK AND MINDLESS! HOW OFTEN WERE WE ALL FORCED INTO SMALL PLACES AND TOLD IT WAS A BETTER LIFE THAN WHAT WOULD AWAIT US IF WE WENT AGAINST THE HIGHER-UPS?!”  
The animals screeched in agreement.  
“HOW OFTEN WERE WE TOLD THAT WE WERE FUNDIMANTALLY DIFFERENT AND LED TO BELIEVE WE SHOULD LOOK DOWN AT EACH OTHER?!”  
More growling.  
“HOW OFTEN WERE WE TOLD THAT THE LIFE OF ANOTHER SPECIES DIDN´T MATTER AS MUCH AS OUR OWN?! TOLD MANIPULATIVE STORY OF THE ONE SPECIES KILLING THE OTHER?! THESE LIES HAVE TO STOP! DECEPTION SHALL NOT BE PART OF US ANYMORE!”  
They all got ready to attack.  
“SO FROM TODAY ONWARDS! ALL! SPECIES! ARE! CREATED! EQUAL! WE DESERVE ALL THE SAME AND FOR THAT WE SHALL FIGHT!”  
A bloody fight ensued and the physical stronger animals were ripping into the humans who in turn tried their best weapons currently available. Blood seeped into the ground and onto everyone around.  
Mike stood in the middle of the fight, laughing louder and louder. “IT WAS TIME FOR CHANGE! THE STORM HAS ARRIVED, FEAR OUR WRATH!”  
Old Sport got slightly worried by that. “Uh… Mike… how do you feel?”  
“WHAT ARE ASKING?! ARE YOU PLANNING TO UNDERMINE MY RANK? THINK AGAIN! IF YOU´RE NOT FOR US, YOU ARE AGAINST US! TRAITORS AREN´T ALLOWED IN OUR BEAUTIFUL NEW WORLD!”  
“M8, get some help! The chill pill, take it right now! We could take a nice break, clean the blood from our clothing and have lunch-”  
“I FEEL PERFECTLY FINE! YOU ARE TRYING TO DERAIL THE MOVEMENT! NO BREAKS TOWARDS GLORY! TO THE TRAITOR-DUNGEON WITH YOU!”  
But before the animals could notice their leader’s demands, Mike was shot into the shoulder, a long needle sticking out now. Slowly he stumbled, opening and closing his mouth again and again, before finally falling over.  
Out between the fighting fractions the Purple Guy appeared. “I once thought Mike was an interesting guy, but now he isn´t JUST on Phoney´s side, but also a fucking communist.”  
“Are you sure that he is a communist…?”  
“Who cares, quick, get him and we leave. Hurry, before the obviously superior human race will get their tanks and just kills them all.”  
They grabbed him under the arms and dragged him off, starting soon enough to smile at each other.  
“Good that you were here! What got you out?”  
“Well, I heard of the communist-animalist-revolution and just knew you did something stupid. I´m impressed! How did you do that?”  
“I was… bored?”  
“Old Sport, you goddam MADMAN!” With one head he reached out and ruffled his friend´s hair. “But stop with the communist bullshit. If animals will ever have a government of their own, they´ll ALL be capitalists… even if some of them might believe something else.”  
Shaking his head, but still chuckling the Orange Guy shook his head. “Fine, no more communism. But didn´t you said that you hate the corporate greed, especially in Phone Guy?”  
“I hate both and want it to destroy each other. The only problem about communism is, so much I learned, that you can´t do as much. So, capitalism all the way.”  
Finally they managed to drag the unconscious Guard up all the way into his apartment. Thankfully the door of fate was repaired and surely more beautiful than ever before and as they entered Dave nodded at the fine craftsmanship.  
“How does he even has such a nice door?”  
“Why are we still talking about this shitty door, I literally destroyed it as a joke! STOP!”  
“Guess you shouldn´t break shit for fun?” The Purple Guy laughed whole-heartedly at Old Sport´s face. “You know I´m just teasing!”  
“Time to go away now, Dave! I´m still in my totally amazing, cool, fun adventure that doesn´t involve YOU!”  
“The amount of salt you spew is amazing! Fine, fine, I´ll be gone in a minute… just one question. Is it fun to spend time with Mike?”  
“Well, yeah, he´s pretty-”  
“Better be careful. I can´t promise his safety like that.”  
Slightly taken aback the Orange Guard raised his hands. “D00d, chill!”  
There Dave´s smile was back and he stretched. “Just wanted to make sure you ain´t getting attached to such an insignificant piece of shit. Remember, it´s orange and purple, not orange and swearing.”  
“Are you… alright?”  
The purple one grabbed him and starting shaking him violently back and forth, his eyes glowing brightly. “NO! YOU CAME HERE AFTER SO MUCH TIME AND YOU AREN´T EVEN PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO ME! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL?”  
“Geez, I´m sorry… Fine, I´ll… I´ll visit you? Or better you come over to me, I´m not ready to visit your murder-dungeon. Just give me a bit time to clear the water with Mike. You have to admit that it´s going to be a benefit to befriend him.”  
Slightly insulted Dave left. “I expect you at six.”  
“Do you have the surprise ready at least?”  
“……. Not now. I´ll show you eventually.”  
At least he had the decency to appear slightly guilty. After he closed the super-awesome, totally irrelevant door, Old Sport sat down on the bed, next to the unconscious body. It took about half an hour until he woke back up, groaning. “What the fuck happened?”  
“We killed half the politicians in the city.”  
“FUCK, WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUS? Ah…” Mike had jumped up, but wasn´t strong enough to stay up for too long and sunk back down. “Did you just literally made me a mass murderer in the span of less than a day?”  
“Welcome to the family of Freddy´s!”  
“I´ll most likely go to prison and you say that?”  
“What are you talking about? The animals had taken care of the human technology before we even arrived.”  
“Wait, if everything happened, does that mean animals are far more-”  
“PSHHH… Mike, don´t. Logic is far too dangerous for this fragile reality. We could shatter at every minute! By the way, if it helps, you only killed politicians. They are the most generic villain and no one will judge you for it.”  
“I… enough, leave.”  
“C´mon, it was at least fun, wasn´t it?”  
The Guard stared intensely at the oddity. Of all the pointless rage and anger he had boiling at all time under his skin, he couldn´t find some to throw at him.  
But he was obligated to give at least a creepy remark. Slowly he sat up and leaned close. “Yes. It was great. Next time I´m killing someone, it´s gonna be you.”  
“Ah, why making such a big deal out of it?”  
“Do you think it´s a joke? Killing humans?”  
“Doesn´t everyone at Freddy´s? Alright, I´m sorry for the HORRIBLE day, I won´t bother you again.”  
Seeing the before so optimistic guy this hurt made him slightly differ from his previous plan. This asshole was actually pretending to not care about what happened. A well-dosed portion of sarcasm would save the situation. “You know what? Fucking hell, if the police doesn´t come to arrest us before tomorrow evening, I´ll treat you to dinner.”  
“What, really?”  
“I hope you like some Steak.”  
To Mike´s surprise the smile of this co-worker widened. “Finally you got it, the true spirit of Freddy´s. You were making a sarcastic comment, right? Can I still get something from you if you won´t get arrested?”  
“Depends…?”  
“PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE GIVE ME A BOX OF RAISINS! I NEVER GOT ONE BEFORE!”  
Confused he stared at the weirdo, at the ceiling and afterwards once more at the weirdo. “Fuck it, why not.”  
“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”  
“BUT! Only if you keep your mouth shut. Don´t you ever tell PG what happened today.”  
“Triple YAY! Secrets, raisins and Mike getting some chill!”  
“Now FUCK OFF before I throw you out of my window.”  
“See ya tomorrow, Mike! Oh, before I go, why did the ghost never leave the cursed pizzeria chain?”  
“Wait, what the fuck?!”  
“Because they had NO BODY TO GO WITH!”  
Before he could attack or at least ask any questions, the man was rushing down the many stairs, giggling.  
Well, that wasn´t remotely weird or anything. Nah, nothing but paranoia here. The joke was bad after all, so maybe he tried to distract him with this. Or not, WHO THE FUCK CARES. Nothing was real anyway.  
And as if it only waited for the world to get weirder, the air pressure began to rise and since he knew what to expect, he forced himself up to shut the blinds.  
Yep, there they were, more active than this morning.  
“Why did you leave us?!?” The small Toy-Chica tugged on his jacket.  
“I guess he has BETTER things to do than saving souls!” As always the Foxy was snarling.  
“G-give him space everyone, I´m sure he has a good explanation.”  
“Right! He was checking out how to best kill our killer! That´s why, right?”  
Irritated Mike shook his head. “I was living my life, alright? I mean, I can´t fucking guarantee you´re actually real, so I can´t afford listening to you. While we´re at this, IF you are ghost, why didn´t you simply came along?”  
They didn´t answer and turned away.  
“Honesty is step number one. What the fuck is wrong?”  
“We were afraid.”  
“It was HIM.”  
“He turned on us!”  
“He watched us die.”  
“We were dumb, but he was cruel.”  
“He isn´t human.”  
“He is a monster.”  
Now it was Mike´s turn to turn quiet.  
Okay.  
As much was to be expected, right? The first person who appeared chill, turned out to be a maybe, kinda, probable child murderer. Him being the friend of Vincent should have given that away before though. That was if ghosts were real, but at this point it wasn´t that unlikely.  
“Good, fine, great, let´s cut to the chase. What the fuck do you need from me and why is it even me?”  
“You can hear us!”  
“You can see us!”  
“You can help us!”  
“You can save us!”  
“You´re f-fucking guilty of ripping us apart! Of course you´re the one who has to do the dirty work!”  
With an eyebrow raised Mike turned towards Toy-Foxy. “Did you say fuck?”  
“Y-yeah! The f-f-fuck are you going to do about that?”  
“Teach you something! Do even fucking know how the fuck you fucking use the word fuck, you fuck?” All the kids stared at him. “Thought that much.”  
Mike slowly leaned back onto the bed. “Okay, I get it. What am I supposed to do to “save” you? Little spoiler, I won´t go around killing off everyone you see as the murderer.”  
“We… we don´t know what we need to go.”  
“I do!” The Chicken jumped up. “You need to go onto your boss’s computer and delete a folder. It´s called PRON.”  
“PRON?!”  
“He has… bad picture of me on there and it drives me crazy! SO disgusting!”  
“WHAT?”  
“Just search for it, you´ll see what I mean. But it´d be probably better for your soul to NOT know what´s on there.”  
Well, here it was. He would ask Phone Guy to delete the folder and if PG reacted as if he knew what he was talking about, this shit was real, if not he would just take his pills.  
Silently he stared at the ghosts and the ghosts stared back.  
This was getting awkward.  
“Alright, I´ll do it.”  
The ghost leaned back a bit, but didn´t stopped looking at him.  
“… I promise?”  
They nodded, but STARED.  
“Take a fucking hint and leave now!”  
“We… can´t really.”  
“Are you fucking kidding me? I´m stuck with you?!”  
“Suck it up, you- y-you BABY!”  
“I HAVE NOW FIVE CHILDREN?!”  
“Wouldn´t call it like that…” But, as always, the children weren´t really on the same page.  
“YES, WE CAN CALL YOU DAD!”  
“FUCK NO!”  
They swarmed around him jumping and tugging on him. “If you´re our dad now, can you tell Chica to stop stealing my bowtie?”  
“Maybe I just wanna wear a bowtie?! You can wear my stuff whenever you want!”  
“But I never wanted to! Stop stealing my things!”  
“Dad, tell him I can borrow his stuff as long as I give it back!”  
“I`M NOT YOUR FUCKING DAD, I DON´T EVEN KNOW YOUR NAMES, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!”  
It went quite in an instant and the children looked up to him, probably scared. For fuck´s sake, don´t let them get you.  
Slowly they stepped away and turned to face other directions.  
… Shit.  
“For fucking hell, I- How about you tell me your names first?”  
“Why should we?! So you can better SCREAM at us?!”  
“FUCK, sorry, I´m just not a family-person. It´s not as if you were any help for me to stay calm.”  
“Yeah, you s-stupid a-asshole! Better apologize!”  
“Better tell me your fucking name before I lose my cool.”  
“F-freaking! Stop threatening us!”  
Mike sighed and asked himself what he was expecting. Tired he left for his bed, not even caring about the time of day. The only thing that stopped him was the silent murmuring of the trashpile-ghost.  
“If you want to fucking say something then SPIT IT OUT.”  
“MY NAME! It´s… my name… is… Suzy.”  
He wasn´t sure what to answer, but thankfully the other ghost stared to pick up the conversation. Toy Freddy stepped forward and made a slight bow. “My name is Gary.”  
“I´m Richie, nice to finally be able to talk with you.” The Bonnie-masked boy nodded.  
“My name is Sally! And you better not have hidden anything weird around here, because I´ll find it and shame you!” The Chica huffed and would have probably shown her tongue if the mask weren´t in the way.  
With his probably trade-marked stupid laugh, the Balloon Boy played a bit with his mask. “I´m… Thomas. Sorry for annoying you so much.”  
“Hell, can you wear nametags or something, because I probably won´t ever remember these shitty names.”  
“You could at least try. How about you learn right now?”  
They ordered themselves in a line.  
“Are you honestly serious?”  
Filled with expectation they stared at him.  
“Alright… We have two girls, Sally and Suzy, right? Sally is sounds like trash, so it´s Mangle.”  
“EXCUSE ME?!” Insulted the Toy-Chica jumped up.  
“Oh, right, whoever decides to use a z in their name is the true trash. I can remember that; z in name, trash in game.”  
They both shook their heads, but surprisingly kept quiet about their complaints.  
“Next up are the boys. Tom, Richard and Gary, right? So, Richard sounds gay as shit, so it´s Toy-Bonnie. Gary sounds like an asshole and Tom sounds boring as fuck, so it´s Balloon Boy and Toy-Freddy.”  
“No…? And it´s actually Thomas…”  
“Okay, the bear is Gary, has the same amount of syllables and Tom has an o in his name, so does Balloon Boy, Balloon Boy has three o´s, not unlike a triangle with three sides, the name Tom brings one more singled out point into it, like a circle inside of a triangle, which makes him a member of the illuminati-”  
“Are you still here?”  
“What?! Oh, yeah, sorry. One more time. Suzy is Z is Trash, Sally is the other bitch, Tom is illuminati, Richard is a homo and Gary… is uninteresting like his counterpart.”  
Slowly Richard leaned towards Gary. “Are you sure we shouldn´t just ask someone else? Still kill him like Toy-Foxy said?”  
“You kids know I can hear you, right?”  
“You can´t blame me for asking, right?”  
Mike shook his head, rather annoyed with this amount of human contact. Quickly he reopened the blinds and snatched a book.  
“Mike, you read?!”  
“Well, I can´t afford a TV or a laptop.”  
“How poor are you?!”  
“I work at Freddy´s.”  
“Can you read for us?!”  
“No?”  
“Please!”  
“Yes, come on, we behaved, didn´t we?”  
“Can we make an interactive story?!”  
“I hate those!  
“What book are you reading? Have you the story about Alice here?”  
The Guard was really not made for children. “Listen up you little shits, I´m reading a story about a man who hunts the killer of his wife and children, who were brutally murdered and the man still to the day blames himself for having left them in a fit of rage. After half of the book it turns out that he might is the killer himself and has a condition that potentially splits his personality, explaining how the killer came into the house that easy and why there was never a sign of struggle around the house. He forces himself to confront his past and mind, to finally learn to accept what is real and what not.”  
Toy-Foxy tilted her head. “Sounds like the story of your life.”  
But before he could even say anything, Toy-Chica weighed in. “What are you saying? That would mean that someone was willing to MARRY him!”  
All of them laughed.  
Fucking failed abortions.  
“I´d be careful if I were you. I could take my medicine at any time and you would be gone.”  
“Pff, Mikey is a crybaby!”  
“Mike hides because he can´t take a joke!”  
“Mike is a loser!”  
“Well, at least I´m not stupid enough to get myself kidnapped and killed inside of a fucking children restaurant!”  
Toy… Gary was clearly uncomfortable. “Please Mike, be so nice and read us the story, we didn´t have that… in a really long time. Don´t be angry at us…”  
Slowly the oldest one in the room wandered towards his nightstand and took a long good look at his bottle of pills. A yellow plaque warned to read the different papers that came with the box.  
Slightly shrugging he put the bottle back down and sat on the bed. “If ANYONE complains while I´m reading, I´ll instantly stop and ignore you assholes for the rest of the evening.” Slipping the bookmark out of its previous spot he turned back to the first page.  
“Everything in his mind was filled with blood. All he could comprehend was blood. Blood on the ground, blood on the ceiling, blood on the walls, blood on the lifeless body of his gentle wife…” 

It was a while after the children went quieter than before, as Mike shortly paused to take a look at them. They were all cuddling against each other, breathing slow and steadily.  
Why ghost were sleeping was a mystery on its own, but it was at least something positive, so he decided not to nitpick for once. He turned the pages back to the start of the chapter and left the bookmark there.  
It wasn´t too late now, so…  
Pondering he grabbed his cellphone, asking himself if he should call the Phone. Was it too much? He wasn´t forced to…  
With a sigh he dialed the number and wasn´t even surprised as the call was accepted before the first signal. It was amazing what was possible with a Phone-head.  
“Hey, PG.”  
“O-oh it´s you! Gosh, I´m so glad you called, I´ve heard HORRIBLE things today, something about animals trying to overthrow the government and killing people and I was worried you were maybe in trouble and I wanted to check on you, but I wasn´t sure if you were okay with me just coming over like that, I didn´t want to annoy you, I of course know that you can take care of yourself, but I just-”  
Christ, talking about too much.  
“Do I look like a person that goes outside to you?”  
“Yes- I mean, I don´t know, you never talk about your spare time!”  
“I´m fine. I would really prefer if you would call me before you visited me though.”  
“I would never dream of simply chime in, don´t worry.” A short pause ensued, the next words seemed carefully picked. “I´m glad you weren´t in any danger today. What were you doing?”  
Oh, I wasn´t in any danger, because I was the leader of the dangerous group, they could be probably classed as terrorist, together with the Guy you seemed scared as shit of yesterday, as well as reading for some children that died in our restaurant, promising them to help, even though I don´t even know if they are real.  
“Literally nothing. It feels like Freddy´s swallowed my mind and I can´t really enjoy myself anywhere else. If you can call working inside a house of madness “enjoying myself”…”  
Phone Guy had equal parts of worry and sympathy in his voice. “I know what you mean. It´s creepy, isn´t it? But… let´s not drift into the depressing topics.”  
“I´m convinced, no matter what we would talk about, it´d become depressing.”  
“Come on, I´m not that bad at conservations, am I?!”  
Mike couldn´t help but slightly smile at that statement. Whenever PG showed that he was just as incompetent and insecure as everyone else, it had something special about it.  
“You´re terrible. But don´t worry, it´s kinda your charm.”  
“C-charm? Didn´t know you knew words to p-positively describe someone!”  
“Ah, shut it you piece of scrap metal.”  
“At least you can turn scrap metal useful again, an asshole stays an asshole!”  
“Sure about that?”  
“Try to prove me wrong, Mike!” Both chuckled a little. “You sound a lot more relaxed then on the day we first met. I´m glad.”  
“Stop getting all mushy on me, Phone. I´m probably just sick.” The words were harsh, but said with a smile.  
“Well, I guess there are actually some sicknesses that can help you! Now I sadly have to hang up, I have still a bit work to do. I will see you tomorrow.”  
“Should I come in early?”  
“Heck! I found out who infected you! Apparently you caught a serious case of “Jeremy”. I hope it isn´t lethal.”  
“You can´t kill something that is already dead… at least on the inside.”  
“Mike… I´d be rather swell if you would be early. But if you want to rather sleep, it´s fine.”  
“I´ll try my best. Have a good night tinfoil-head!”  
“I hope you wake up well rested, saltman!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So… is it fine? I´m trying to keep the people consistent and comprehensible, so even if they act unusual they still feel like the same character… Well, I shouldn´t worry as long as you still have fun!  
> I hope you enjoyed! Have a nice day! x3


	11. Business as usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I like to siiiing…. Daaaance…. PRETEND…  
> AND!  
> I like to have fun Fun fUn FUnfuNFUNfUNFUn!  
> Kazoo Kid – Trap Remix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the narration was always a big problem of mine. Maybe you noticed that the narration slightly changes, depending on the narrated character (if not, it´s perfectly fine). With Old Sport it now goes off the rails and I´m unsure if that´s acceptable. Tell me if you mind or if it´s okay.

Phone Guy´s way to work appeared longer than usual. Every step brought a feeling of dread with it, memories of horrendous deeds happening at Freddy´s and the continuous question who was to blame for them.  
He heard of Phone Guys who went batshit insane and harmed themselves and people around them. He was told it was due to faulty wiring. A lie he told far too often himself to believe.  
Sometimes the metal-headed manager wished he could talk to those “insane” versions of himself. The higher-ups strictly prohibited any contact with them, a stupid rule considering that they were usually dead the moment they turned.  
It was weird how he distinguished some of the Phone Guys from the others, despite sharing memories with most of them… which of his memories were even his own? Was he the guy who worked with Old Sport and Dave in the previous restaurant, or did he only share the memories? Who the hell was he?!  
Step by step, keep going forward.  
You´re not alone after all, not this time, not this version.  
Breath in, breath out. This time will be different. You are different. You can fix all of this.  
At least that was what he was forced to believe, if he didn´t want to be another version with “faulty wiring”.  
To his slight shock, there was someone waiting in front of the establishment. Jeremy turned and his face turned into an exclamation mark.  
“Mr. Phone Guy! I didn´t understand anything you were telling me yesterday! What happened? Are Freddy and his friends alright?!”  
Jeremy was most likely the only person who ever asked that question.  
“The… the Toys were damaged. We had to ship them back to their factory.”  
“OH NO! All of them?!”  
“… The puppet is probably fine.”  
His whole face lit up in relief. “At least! The puppet wouldn´t even remotely deserve such a fate… God, I really miss them already… without them the place looks so empty.”  
“Jeremy…”  
“But on the other hand, it´s good that they won´t bother you and Mike at night anymore!”  
This boy… would make a great Phone Guy. The euphemism were down to a point!  
“Let´s get in, employee, we have to tidy the restaurant a bit, I fear.”  
Good hearted the Guard checked out the stage, where the other robots were quietly bickering at each other.  
“I´m so glad the old models weren´t harmed! What would we be without Freddy and his crew?”  
“Probably a lot more sane.”  
“Huh?”  
Goddammit, Mike started to rub off on him. “Oh, it was a small joke! You know, since they are such troublemaker!”  
Confused Jeremy tilted his head and smiled insecure.  
They´ve worked for only half an hour until the door was kicked open violently.  
“I`M HERE!” Mike had bags under his eyes and the demeanor of a dog with rabies. Phone Guy immediately dropped all he was doing.  
“Mike! W-what happened?! Do you feel alright?”  
“I hate children, especially the kind that WAKES YOU UP AT FIVE AM! FUCK THEM! FUCK EVERYTHING!”  
The manager softly touched the shoulder of his friend and signed him to sit down. “Don´t worry, you could rest the day, since you are taking the nightshift anyway…”  
“I BETTER can! I´d probably be the next fucking serial killer, if I don´t get some sleep soon.”  
“Please… don´t make jokes about that…”  
“Why the fuck not? Imagine, you and me, on the run, fighting police, killing every stupid person on the planet!” With that he grabbed PG around the shoulder and dragged him next to him, pointing towards an imaginary horizon with his other hand. “We would be like Bonnie and Clyde, but actually competent.”  
“You… really haven´t slept a lot, have you?”  
“I´m going to down a bit licorice from the prize corner, see you later.”  
“If you take that stuff you will die!”  
“I sure hope so! If not, the sugar rush will keep me awake for the next twenty hours.”  
Shaking his head the Phone watched his employee run off. Jeremy on the other hand was getting a little irritated.  
“U-uh… excuse me Mr. Phone Guy… D-do we really have deadly licorice in our p-prize corner?”  
“Don´t worry Jeremy, that would be weird, wouldn´t it? It´s a small inside joke of ours.”  
It was most certainly nice that Jeremy only paid attention to the things he wanted to hear.  
At point twelve o´clock, together with the regular customers, Old Sport entered the place. The war began. Maybe. Probably. Keep your cool, you’re the boss. You can fire him.  
Old Sport only breathed deeply in. “OH BOI, I SURE LOVE WORKING IN DEATH SUITS!”  
“Good, we here at Freddy´s like to hear that. The suits are in the backroom, I don´t want to catch you without one today.”  
His eyes glowed dimly in the darkness of their holes. “Are you SURE about that, Phoney…? Those suits are easily… exploitable.”  
“Indeed they are. You should be careful to NOT nudge any bolts, yes?”  
There the bright smile was back, as he winked. “I´ll keep it mind. Where´s Dave by the way?”  
“Shouldn´t you know that better than me?”  
It didn´t make him happy, but he nodded. “Fine, I guess as long as he´s not here, I should earn me some tokens, right? So I don´t starve.”  
It was more worth it to first earn tokens and afterwards wearing the suit, after all he´d be better off only changing into the Fredbear costume when he had a useable tool that could ensure he wouldn´t immediately die while climbing in. Making money without fleshlights was quite a feat, but not impossible, there still was Breadbear 7392 and loose tokens on the ground.  
BUT, if you really wanted to get to the big money, you sure were right to do some DEATH-MATCHES! As the etiquette demanded he positioned himself right in the middle of the place and got his Taser ready, before screaming at full volume the best insults he could imagine.  
“NOT EVEN FREDDY´S LIKE FREDDY! THE ONLY REASON HE COULD REPLACE FREDBEAR IS BECAUSE FREDBEAR WAS TOO GOOD FOR THIS SINFUL EARTH! IF THEY HAD ANOTHER MASCOT, FREDDY WOULD INSTANTLY GET KICKED OUT BY EVERYONE WHO KNOWS HIM!”  
“Prepare to die you orange bastard!”  
With that the bear charged right at him, ready to go for his neck. NOT TODAY THOUGH! AS ALL STAR STARTED TO PLAY IN THE BACK OF HIS MIND, HE ASSUMED THE MOST POWERFUL OF FIGHT POSITIONS: THE DOUBLE-ROLL. Quickly he stepped aside, the crowd cheered, a cheering that got louder as he did the world famous double-knee-face-Taser, right as the bear turned around. He screeched, but managed to throw him off, against a wall of screaming kids, who shoved him right back into the ring. Freddy once more manage to beat him down, drawing the black liquid that replaced his blood so long ago, but with THE POWER OF MEMES he healed his wounds and finished the animatronic with the legendary electric-double-cross. Swiftly he bowed towards the kids and collected his payment for beating up the machine. This time it were hundred tokens, most certainly worth those few minutes.  
Alright, that about twenty times more, wouldn´t even take up half an hour, and then it was time to go and visit Matt.  
On the other end of the place, two Guards watched him closely. “Is he actually fucking triggering the animatronics to attack him, just to earn a few tokens? What about the possibility that they break his neck?!”  
“Don´t mind it, he did it at the old location ALL THE TIME. It´s fine with me, since it not only prevents him from attacking anyone, but the robots as well.”  
They kept watching the death battles that were going on. “Christ, the kids are pretty into that, aren´t they?!”  
“Yes, I might need to advertise this more.”  
A few fights later, Old Sport carried the heavy heap of tokens towards the prize corner. “Heya Matt, remember me?”  
“How could I, you killed about five hundred kids or something.”  
“Don´t believe everything you hear, it was far less. I see you are still a virgin!”  
“YES.”  
“Some things never change… here, I want a sturdy hand crank, a bit licorice, the wrench, a lighter, the Foxy-shaped grabber, the diving mask, the guitar, the microphone and…” Carefully he eyed the cigarettes. “Ah, whatever, that´s enough.”  
Without any further interaction needed, the Orange Guy equipped his hand crank and left towards the saferoom.  
He changed into his suit and grinned. It felt so good being alive.  
Sincerely excited he stepped into the main hall, ready to perform and lo and behold, a gaggle of childer appeared!  
WHAT DO!? Should he tell them a new interactive story?! Should he make them vanish like the great magician he was? He hadn´t any fireworks or cigarettes… Should he interact with them as Spring-Freddy?!  
Before he could open his mouth, he felt the Phones iron stare in his neck. Maybe he shouldn´t…  
DO A FLIP! Eh, that would kill him.  
DO A FLIP, GODDAMMIT!  
NO.  
Jokes were prohibited and all in all…  
Interactive story it was!  
“Hey children! U WANNA KNO ABUT THE TIM FRUDDY WENT 2 SPACE?!?!?!??1!!ß!!!???!11?!?!”  
“No, Spring-Freddy.” They answered in their robotic synchronized voice.  
“ONE DAY FRUUDY FUND A SPACSHAP INSIDE THE KITCHEN AND BLAZED OFF-“  
Token hit him right in the face. Ungrateful bastards.  
“Please stop, Spring-Freddy.”  
“You mean I should… Astro-NOT?!?!?!”  
“Employee…”  
Welp, was it worth it? Dying a horrible death, just to pun?  
“I accept my pun-ishment, dear Phoney.”  
Most certainly.  
“If you´re so keen on making jokes, how about I tell one? Knock, Knock!”  
“I know that one already…”  
“Springlocks.”  
“Really, in front of the children? You psychopath.”  
“They already suffered through your puns, they are traumatized for live anyway.”  
But before they could continue, Mike wandered over. “Hey, Orange, here are your raisins.”  
Old Sport watched his boss freeze in his movement and began to grin like a maniac. “You´re the best thing that ever happened to the restaurant Mike! Let´s go over to the ball pit, I want to show you something special in return!”  
“W-we aren´t done here, employee…”  
“Yes we are! Come on Mike, you will love it!”  
Irritated Mike glanced between his friend and the Orange Guy back and forth, but since PG stayed silent, he shrugged and followed the Odd Guy.  
At the edge of the groundless pit, filled with colorful balls from hell, they stopped and Old Sport pulled out a bit licorice and threw it into the pit without any word. A few second passed, then a mighty flash blinded Mike for a second. As he opened his eyes back up, he saw five children holding hands, a demonic glow in their eyes.  
“We are the ungrateful toddlers. We demand more licorice.”  
“Christ, you got greedy over the last year.” He handed over more of it and they swallowed it.  
“You appeased us. What is your wish, my child?”  
“DRUGS. I want DRUGS.”  
“What the fuck?!”  
“Give us 500 Tokens and your wish shall be granted.”  
“Here´s your filthy drug money.”  
“Go die in a pit. We hope you overdose and never return, you orange zombie-bear-hybrid.”  
With that a package filled with a white powder fell out of the sky and the children vanished. Shortly Mike rubbed his eyes, attempted to say something, but closed the mouth immediately. After a minute the Guard only said this. “I always expected drugs to be more expensive.”  
“Well, NOT here at Freddy´s! Here, you can have it, as thank you for the raisins! If a cop ever wants to bother you, just let him have a line, he won´t touch you afterwards. But isn´t this AMAZING?! You can get SO MANY things from here! I even payed them to dropkick Phoney once or twice… it was so much fun!”  
His conversation-partner weighed the package inside his hand. “Are you trying to frame me?”  
“Why? I like you! And you could always frame me as well, so it would be stupid of me to ever try to get the police on your case.”  
“I consider overdosing on this.”  
“Won´t work, not with you. Ah! While, we´re talking about that, did ever someone close to you die?”  
“What the fuck is that kind of question?!?!”  
“So yes, great, mother or father?”  
“Do you want to get punched?!”  
“Actually no…?”  
“Then FUCK OFF, RIGHT NOW!”  
“B-but my RAISINS!”  
The raisins were also thrown right into Old Sport´s face, probably breaking his nose, but at least they weren´t heavy enough to trigger the sprinlocks, so everything was k.  
Silently he asked himself what the fuck Dave was thinking, not appearing like this, it made him goddamn suicidal. Whatever, he could deal with that, right? Dayshift was fun. Freddy´s was fun. That was why he was here.  
Phoney was watching him closely, keeping the children safe. As if he´d do something like that as longs as Dave wasn´t here. Ah, poor Phoney probably wouldn´t understand that, right? Let´s go and get him to calm down!  
Or should he get out of his suit first? Wearing the suit around his boss was dangerous.  
What gives, he might as well just go and play with the robots. They were the only one he could count- oh wait, right, after saving their souls he was left to choose between rot in prison and dying in a springlock suit, because they never gave a shit.  
Past is past though, so time for a fresh start! First item on the agenda: Time to tweak Freddy´s music!  
Yeeeeees…. The sweet sound of a rickroll! The microphone was tempting him, but he wanted to greet the other machines as well.  
Next one! Time to devour Chica´s oven-ba-  
Chica winked at him, wiggling her hips in the process. Then she opened her giant maw and revealed an unhealthy amount of teeth.  
NOPE.  
Fine, he preferred Foxy anyway. Now he could…  
“Mr. Orange Guy? Is that really you?” Freddy tilted his head. “It has to be you, after all, who else would unironically play this song on my box?”  
A few seconds he simply stared. That was quite unusual. “That´s what you remember about me?! The music?! I literally just bashed your head in!”  
“You aren´t the only one in the restaurant who does that.”  
Ouch…  
“But rickrolling is the best thing ever! I can´t be the only one doing that!”  
“Nope, no one would do that, times have changed. You´re the only regular rickroller in this state I think…”  
Bonnie turned, quite annoyed. “There´s more to him than only that! He was the one that found my face! Twice, I might add!”  
“Ah, right…?”  
“I swear to god, Freddy, if you had any less brain, you would literally not be able to distinguish children from pizza.”  
“Maybe I would recognize him if he wasn´t wearing the skin of my cousin.”  
“Shut it, how can you two be related? Why are you even the leader of this gang?! I´d made a better job. FOXY would make a better job and he´s a wuss.”  
Fascinated Old Sport listened. They appeared sentient, but weren´t children… at least not fully… they talked in-character. What did Dave do to them? “Stop fighting, it´s alright. I´m the rick-roll-man!”  
Before he could continue and begin to shout the lyrics of the song, he saw the Phone coming over out of the corner of his eyes. Yeah, the suit was most likely not really good for this situation…  
As quickly as hundred pounds of metal would let him, he walked towards the saferoom and stripped himself of the sentient torture device. But he knew he would wear it soon enough again. Fredbear knew it too.  
Ha, ha.  
So, there were a few things he could do. For one, there was the other Guard in the building, who he hadn´t seen yet, he also could take a look at the inside of the animatronics, in hopes of finding whatever giving them their upgrade, or he could pester Mike and Phoney some more. The raisins were for when he was back home.  
Roll the dice, whoever comes first gets a dose of FUN!  
It wasn´t even one o´clock yet, he will be dead in less than an hour.  
The main area was filled to the brim with customers, talking and laughing, the children were everywhere. Odd, after the Toys were destroyed, people should be disappointed and stay away…  
A group of children ran around him, trying to not get caught by each other. One of them was too wild and pushed his friend into Old Sport, who tried to catch him.  
“Be more careful, my lad, or captain Foxy might come here and throw you off the plank!”  
“Foxy can eat my shit!”  
Wow. The children haven´t changed at all. Slowly he leaned forward. “That isn´t nice to say… if YOU were captain Foxy, how would you react if someone would say that about you?”  
“I would not threw them off the plank, I would HOOK THEM ON THE CEILING! Foxy is no real pirate!”  
“Good, that´s great…! I´m sure you would be a GREAT Foxy…” Okay, Old Sport, the hell are you doing, this isn´t going the right direction at all, what was wrong?! “Hey, do you know about the SECRET room of Freddy´s? Where they all relax and have fun together?”  
“Nooo…? Where is it?!”  
Stop, this wasn´t what he wanted, especially not without Dave, what would be his reasoning, he couldn´t just go off the grid and kill more kids without his partners agreement, why even, it would-  
“Well, when you go to Freddy, there is-“  
“EMPLOYEE? What are you talking about?”  
The excited kid was almost screaming. “He wanted to show me where Freddy´s secret hide out is!”  
Phone Guy felt his fingers crack under the pressure he put them on. If the Guard would still be wearing his suit, they wouldn´t even need to carry on the conversation and could simply end it here, together with his life. Aggressively he grabbed him by the collar, attempting to shake him, but let him loose after seeing his expression.  
He looked terrified. His eyes were flickering.  
“P-phone Guy… I- I am sorry, I o-only wanted to… teach him… to… not run a-and not insult… Foxy… I don´t know what… I can´t… help… it…” With that he quickly vanished into the crowd, breathing as slowly as possible.  
H-how odd. Nothing serious though. It was his boredom. What else? Just a game, just to get the Phone a little peeved… there was nothing wrong.  
Ha, as if he ever would go around killing kids. He never even touched the kids the first time around. It was Dave´s job to do the honors…  
Coward. Filthy-  
Calm yourself! How about a nice song to get him back on track? No need to worry about the customers surrounding him, they would need to deal with his singing.  
“I´ll be your friend, right to the end!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!!!”  
Shocked he turned towards the loud answer and saw another Guard standing there, brimming with joy. He had brown curly hair, a sign for a face and was quite short.  
And he knew the lyrics of the Fredbear and Friends song. This was fate. After all this time, finally, the duet shall commence.  
On one knee now he stretched his arms to the Guard. “Take it away, my friend~”  
“I´ll be your friend, right ´till the end! JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“Don´t be afraid, we´ll find a way! JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“Follow the pack, we´ll have a blast! JOIN THE PARTY!  
“I´m here for you, we´ll make it through! JOIN THE PAAAAARTY!”  
The Orange Guard picked Jeremy up and swirled him around. “FINALLY! A DUET! AFTER ALL THIS TIME!”  
Sheepish giggles came from the younger one, but he didn´t struggle against the hug. “Haha, could say the same thing! Most other people always look at me weird when I start to sing…”  
“Why?! You have the PERFECT voice for that song!”  
He only shrugged and straightened his hat, now that he was put back down. “Who knows…? Probably it´s just that I´m distracting them… I´m Jeremy by the way, nice to meet you!”  
“You can call me Old Sport, everybody does. I was hired on last Friday.”  
“Oh, that´s great! A new face is always a good thing!”  
“Even if it is as… questionable as yours?!?”  
Jeremy laughed once more, even though it was unclear if it was out of pity, because of the joke or caused by the violent eyebrow-wiggling that was going on.  
“What are you guys doing?”  
Arms were wrapped around each of them, resting lightly on Jeremy and gripping into Old Sport´s shoulder so tightly that he squeaked. Mike had raised an eyebrow at him, apparently not pleased with them interacting.  
“Mike! Mr. Old Sport just told me I was a good singer!!”  
“Please, don´t call me Mister, alright? I can feel myself age just by hearing that.”  
“Oh, sorry Old Sport…”  
Mike dragged him away. “Jeremy, do me a favor and check up on Foxy, I´ll be there in a minute.” After the smaller Guard vanished he continued. “If you do anything bad to him, I can´t guarantee you ever getting out of here.”  
“You´re getting easily triggered, boi. Do I look like a pedophile to you? You might be one, but I wouldn´t touch him with a ten inch pole, my criminal record is far too long anyway.”  
The stare he got was most certainly worth it. Everything was worth potential death, when death was meaningless in itself.  
The eyes of the aggressive Guard narrowed and he looked around.  
“You look kinda depressed… just HANG in there, CUT all the negativity out of your life, I´ll even show you the ROPES for that!” It was not more than a quiet murmur.  
Of course, Old Sport started to laugh. “MAD advice you´re giving here! Honestly, it´s REVOLUTIONARY!” Mike rolled his eyes, but didn´t react any further, so the Orange Guy kept talking. “Thank you… I actually feel a lot better now. How did you tell I was feeling down?”  
“Your eyes do this weird flickering thing, I simply guessed.”  
“Didn´t know I had a fellow pun-lover in here!”  
“For the record, there´s nothing I love, I just hate certain things less than others.”  
Grinning Old Sport nudged him. “So, tell me, who do you hate less, Jeremy or Phone Guy? You seem to have both of them quite close to your heart…”  
Mike wasn´t quite sure how to react. Was it really worth to get angry about that? What would he gain from an answer? How did he even get from puns to… that? Was he retarded? That was probably it. “Don´t you have anything better to do?”  
“The private typ, huh? Well, it doesn´t matter, I´m really just bored… I mean, it would probably be fun to set you up, finally give me the feeling that I did something good and turn this whole place into a dating-”  
“SppppppppppppppppppOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRttttttttttttttttSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!”  
There was no number tiny enough to describe how long it took for Old Sport to change places and it made Mike consider that he might was hallucinating again, since he simply vanished.  
“DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVE! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” He pushed everything in his away aside and jumped at the son of an aubergine. “I almost died about three times already, what were you doing?!”  
Dave was swaying back and forth, looking not that good. “Maaaking… a present for ya! Haven´t ssslept in two dayzzzz… ain´t that bad tho! Look at it! AAAAAAAAaallll foooor you…!”  
With that he held a quite big present out for him. Carefully Old Sport accepted it, before Dave could fall over.  
“Didn´t I tell you NOT to overdo it? Now I have to worry about you again… What´s in there?”  
The Purple Guy didn´t even reacted that much, instead started to lean onto him, almost making both of them tumble. “Have to look! Don´t open around thoooose ssssstupid robots… they might ffffuck it all uppp…”  
The Orange Guy carefully maneuvered them towards a bench and sat them down, accepting the weight of the guy leaning onto him, keeping the box on his lap. Shortly he checked for the robots, but they were on the stage, only Phone Guy was rushing towards them.  
“EMPLOYEE?! WHAT IS IN THAT BOX?!”  
“Shh… Dave is resting! And I don´t know…? He just gave it to me!”  
“Open it.”  
“It´s none of your business! MY present!”  
“There could be something dangerous in there! I will NOT stand for this!”  
Jeremy and Mike were now strolling towards them. “Eyo, the fuck are you doing there?”  
“Mike, stay away, this is probably dangerous!”  
“C´mon b0ss it´s just a little present for me, stop making a big deal out of it!”  
Jeremy excitedly jumped next to them. “A present? How nice! What is it?!”  
Dave groaned and open his eyes back up. “Could…. You all fugging chill? It´s for Old Sport, of course it is dangerous, just like everything else in this place and you can go away now and have a nice day, it would involve you shoving a dragon dil-”  
“Employee, no lewd words in this restaurant!”  
“Shut the fuck up Phoney, we are all swearing here, so how about you go to the fan in the office and stick your dick into it, chopping it off as brutal as possible, you don´t need it anyway, since your wife is a programmed lie and no one else would ever want to get fucked by you.”  
The amount of spite in his words were actually enough to shut up the whole group. Except Mike.  
“How about you stick your aggression up your ass, you useless piece of purple shit, was that necessary to be that fucking rude without reason?! I see the fucking irony so before you fucking say anything, I´M AWARE, but at least my rage is FUCKING righteous and not meant towards someone who is simply trying to keep the fucking place safe, so fuck you and kill yourself, you deserve to die in a fire.”  
Dave was of course already getting ready to response, but Old Sport wasn´t in the mood for more swearing, especially since it always could end in the death of tens of thousands.  
“OH GEE, I GUESS I´LL OPEN MY PRESENT, WHAT IS IN THE BOX?!” Curious he knocked against the wall of the present. To the surprise of all of them the knock was returned from inside of the box.  
The smile of the Purple Guy wasn´t reassuring either. Phone Guy tugged his two employees back and stood protective in front of them. They all stayed quiet as Old Sport slowly tugged away the lid.  
A small white hand reached out of it, not bigger than of a small doll and as Old Sport reached for it, it grabbed onto him. Together with the rest of his hand, a small, mannequin-like figure, clothed in a ballerina tutu was revealed. She looked up at him and giggled.  
Satisfied Dave threw the box off Old Sports lap to occupy the place with his head instead. Looking straight up to his friend, he grinned. “That´s a Minireena! I mean, you can give her another name, that´s all I could come up with in my sleep-deprived haze. She´s great, isn´t she? I worked my ASS off! Make it more human! Make it prettier! All the time, this nagging… THIS CONSTANT NAGGING INSIDE MY MIND, HENRY WOULD HAVE DONE THIS BETTER, HENRY WOULD HAVE DONE THAT MORE! But, it was worth it, as always… she´s quite special, as you will soon see! I´ll tell you a bit more about her when we´re home.”  
“Uh… she´s on my face now, should I be worried?”  
“Nah, it means she likes you!”  
“One other question, it just so happen to pop up in my mind… you wouldn´t have… per chance… installed a camera into her eyes…? Accidently, OF COURSE!”  
“Ahaha, why would I make her a camera?! I already have one in every single room of yours, so it would be kinda unnecessary, wouldn´t it?”  
“Dave…”  
“Ignore what I just said.”  
“… Christ…”  
Jeremy was amazed. “This is the cutest thing in the world! Did you make it?”  
“Yes, indeed! ALL alone! I´m great, right?!”  
Mike wasn´t having any of it. “It looks like nightmare fuel… I wouldn´t want to come close to this piece of shit, if- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”  
The little puppet was now on Mike´s face, laughing continually. “GET IT OFF, GET IT THE FUCK OFF!”  
Old Sport could only grin as well. “She isn´t even doing anything! How about you say sorry to her first, maybe she will let you go.”  
“FUCKING HELL, I`M SORRY, I JUST HATE YOUR FUCKING CREATOR, YOU´RE FINE, NOW GET OFF!”  
This time she stopped laughing and let herself be peacefully taken off. Immediately she was back on Old Sports head and crawled around, laughing again as she was picked up by Jeremy and stood on his hand.  
“You´re beautiful, Minireena!”  
She giggled and bowed towards him, hiding her mouth a bit shyly behind her hands afterwards.  
“Oh, please, Vincent would you make me one too?! I would love to take her home with me!”  
“Nah… maybe one day. But for now I´ll need ´em.”  
“So there ARE more!”  
“And yes, one day you can have one. Now let me sleep.”  
Gladly the boy played around with the Minireena, letting her use him as a climbing frame and hunt his fingers. The Orange Guy simply watched him, accepting that he was now obliged to stay here until his friend was ready to wake up again. Well, there were worse pastimes here at Freddy´s. Dying for example.  
The boss only looked at them, shaking his head. “He build an animatronic for you?”  
“Well… yes? Don´t worry, it´s nothing weird, I grew out of yiffing animatronics a long time ago.”  
“Good for you.”  
“I doubt this thing would even be stable enough for that kind of thing. The dick would get in, with luck-”  
“More than enough information, employee…”  
“While we´re at yiffing animatronics…”  
Thankfully Jeremy was far too distracted and Dave was snoring, so there were only two guys weirdly glancing at Mike.  
“Jesus, Mikey, would never have guessed that YOU were into that kind of stuff!”  
“The fuck are you talking about? Ah, shut up it isn´t even about you. PG, mind if we talk about something?”  
They left the earshot distance of their annoying co-worker. The Guard appeared rather uneasy, his eyes were still baggy. “Listen, I… I have a favor to ask of you, please don´t question me…”  
The awkward nature of the conversation made the Head-Guard just as uncomfortable. “What… what is it? I´ll try my best?”  
Flustered the man turned away. “Just… don´t ask. Do you have a folder with pictures of Toy-Chica on your account? Called PRON?”  
A sound similar to a glitching device ensued as the Phone froze. “WHO- WHO TOLD YOU THAT?! WAS IT THE ORANGE GUY?! DON´T B-BELIEVE HIM ONE WORD! W-WHY WOULD I EVER H-HAVE SUCH A W-WEIRD THING?! I SWEAR, IF HE FILLED YOUR HEAD WITH DUMB LIES, I´M GONNA STRANGLE HIM WITH MY BARE HANDS!”  
“O…kay… There goes my faith. No, it wasn´t Orange who told me about the folder, but… let´s just get to the point, you have to delete it. Right now.”  
The poor guy hid behind his hands, deeply ashamed. “O-of course…”  
It made Mike feel obliged to somehow soothe the distraught man. “I don´t know what´s on there, expect that it´s weird and about Chica. I really don´t want to know, believe me, I actually don´t care, so get it together and chill out.”  
Silently he watched his boss drag himself away, wondering what exactly could be on that folder that made him this ashamed. Something filthy probably. Still, PG never strike him as the perverted type… when and why did he get those pictures?  
On the other side, Sally was a kid and PG was quite prude, so there was a chance that they both simply overreacted. Keep on believing, Mike, or you might just lie down and die on the spot.  
Speaking of dying on the spot, he should probably get some more sleep if he was supposed to survive the Nightshift.  
Orange Guy was watching him, sighing disappointed as now two of the two interesting people in the building were sleeping. Jeremy had left to take care of the reception as well, so he was now alone with his new… toy? The little thing was dancing to itself, making graceful poses and holding them for a while, just to suddenly break out of it into a fluid movement.  
After a while she looked up to him, hid her mouth behind her hands and giggled sweetly, swaying on the spot as if embarrassed. Curious Old Sport petted her. She hugged one of his finger and snuggled into it.  
“You understand what I say, right?”  
The small girl nodded excited and sat down, most likely expecting a longer conversation. Not only sentient, but smart as well.  
“So… do you know what you are?”  
Excited it made a pirouette and then flapped it´s arms.  
“A ballerina… bird?”  
Firm head shaking.  
“A… a fairy.”  
It jumped up and made some pretty poses to celebrate.  
“You think… I mean, you ARE a fairy?”  
Even happier nodding.  
“Were you… always a fairy?”  
She waved her hands, obviously not agreeing.  
“Were you… per chance… a human before?”  
Now there was giggling, a little slower than the ones before, but still in a good mood.  
“… Did… he made you a fairy?” Slowly he signed towards Dave, who was sleeping peacefully on his lap. The Minireena nodded a bit, but didn´t appeared too comfortable.  
Lost in thought the guy started to stroke the soft hair of his friend. “Did he had to hurt you to turn you into a fairy?”  
Her empty eyes met with his. But suddenly she nodded, still firm. So she knew. Now that wasn´t the norm and quite dangerous as well.  
“Do you want to take revenge?”  
Breathless he watched every small twitch of the small ballerina. But she laughed. She giggled careless and shook her head.  
“… you’re a happy little fairy, aren´t you? You´re happy?”  
Again she began to spin and dance again, laughing and jumping. Old Sport couldn´t help but smile.  
“Not only happy, but beautiful as well! Could you go and fetch me a pen? A thick, black marker? Make sure to stay away from the animatronics though, you know, giants don´t like fairy folks after all!”  
The little thing skipped away and returned after a few minutes, together with the requested item. Proudly she handed him the pen.  
“Thank you a lot Minireena!” Swiftly he took the cap off and began to draw on Dave´s face. Everything to pass time, right?  
One sweet beard and #yiffed later, the Purple Guy finally woke up, rubbing his eyes.  
“What are you doing there, Old Sport?” They shortly stared at each other, the open pen was still in plain sight. “You have exactly five seconds to run.”  
“OH GEE, IT´S ALREADY CLOSING TIME, SEE YOU TOMORROW!” Within the time limit he managed to escape out of the door, his brutal fate following right on his heels.  
Confused Jeremy watched them leave, but decided against asking where they were going, since he had to quickly speak with his boss before they would be busy closing the restaurant.  
Politely he knocked onto the office door.  
Distressed and completely humiliated the Phone sat inside of the office at the end of the day, in front of the freshly wiped computer. Mike would never look at him the same again. He would never be able to talk to him like a normal human. Why did he even still had that stuff on his computer?! If he just had getting rid of it sooner!  
Mike might had SAID that he neither know nor care about the images, yet he was most likely lying.  
Life was over at this point. Maybe he should stay in here until midnight and hope for a quick death.  
“Mr. Phone Guy…?”  
No, not now. “Please Jeremy, go away…”  
“It´s just a short question…”  
“The answer is yes. Do what you want.”  
“But I haven´t even-”  
“You will do fine, Jeremy, I believe in you. Go ahead, it will be alright.”  
“Are you sure that-”  
“YES. If I trust someone with that, then it´s you. Now would you mind leaving me alone…?”  
“O-okay, sorry… I hope you will feel better soon…”  
“Thank you Jeremy. See you tomorrow.”  
The young Guard left the office, heading straight to the prize corner. If his boss said it was fine, it was fine, he needed to trust his boss. Carefully he unlocked the padlock again and opened the box.  
With much love and care he lifted the marionette out of it and placed it comfortable inside his backpack. It was burned and deactivated, some cables lay bare and the whole mask was blackened by soot.  
“Don´t worry dear puppet, I´ll get you back into top form! Mr. Phone Guy allowed me to take you home! I wonder what happened to you… it probably was an accident, right? That´s a shame, but sometimes these things happen. No problem, I will take care of you…”  
Smiling he left the restaurant, excited to help his favorite animatronic and even more excited that he was trustworthy enough to repair such a complex creature.  
As if he was carrying a fragile treasure, the young man slowly shouldered it and left for the day. After all, he still had quite a bit of work in front of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, before anything else, this “repaired” version of Minireena is mostly inspired by this:  
> http://purple-phoney.tumblr.com/post/154775379938/some-minireenas-more-cuz-why-not-j  
> The original artist is http://purple-phoney.tumblr.com ! CHECK THEM OUT, THEY`RE GREAT!  
> THANK YOU A LOT TO https://rotting-purple-flesh-husk.tumblr.com , WHO FOUND THIS FOR ME! I`M INCREDIBLY GRACIOUS!  
> Can I count this as cliffhanger? If yes, I´m sorry ;)  
> Nah, don´t worry, the next chapter will be out soon! I promise! (By soon I mean next Friday I hope that´s fine)  
> There were many mood-swings in this chapter, is that annoying/confusing? I´ve heard that´s quite the faux-pas, but it felt fitting for Old Sport… tell me your opinions! (I´d love me encouragement as well as criticism)  
> Last but not least: A little hey to Call-me-whatever, I haven´t seen you on my last chapter, but I hope you´re doing okay!


	12. Puppet show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You were always quite the loser, Jeremy  
> Then I invaded and you upgraded  
> Jeremy, it's true that I found you  
> But look around you  
> All your peers are just so incomplete  
> You can't see it, but they're all in pain  
> Their operating system's obsolete  
> So let's complete the chains  
> And get inside those brains
> 
> Let's save the pitiful children!”
> 
> Pitiful children – BE MORE CHILL

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there´s neither Old Sport nor Dave in this chapter. I have no idea how that happened… but I pray you enjoy anyway, dear reader!

Humming. Such a familiar tune…  
It wasn´t the usual tune.  
Had someone tampered with his box?  
Did he get a new one, after they discovered the destruction of his home?  
But why change the tune? He liked the grandfather´s clock melody!  
The music was interrupted by a cough. It was real humming, no artificial reconstruction.  
“Here you go, Puppet! You look just as cute as before!”  
It had been a while since he was called “cute” the last time… who was that?  
Without rush he resurfaced out of his fire-induced trance. His eyes lit up. The youngest Guard of the facility was smiling down at him, screwdriver and cloth in his hands.  
You. How did you stay alive? Freddy´s is not the right place for you.  
Shock turned the question mark into an exclamation mark. “This voice… You´re the one who talked to me while I was working the Nightshift! David!”  
DO NOT CALL ME THAT.  
“Why…? You remind me of my old neighbor, who-”  
I do not care. Never call me that again if you value your life.  
“Geesh, I´m really sorry, I didn´t know it you hated it that much! What´s your name then? So I can call you what you like!”  
I am the Marionette! I do not need such a silly thing as a name!  
“But wouldn´t a name be more fun? It´s something that´s yours! It makes you individual!”  
There are only so many names, individuality is a myth.  
“That´s pretty negative… I think Mike once said the same thing. How about I call you Marion?”  
I feel humiliated already.  
“So it´s a deal! You already know my name if I remember correctly…? I thought I was becoming weird! But you were ACTUALLY talking with me! Thank you, it helped me to stay calm!”  
The puppet tilted his head, deeply irritated. Was this… boy too stupid to realize that he was working on distracting him, so the others could get in easier?  
Jeremy, why did you take me out of my box?  
“Oh, there was an accident, you got burned and Mr. Phone Guy allowed me to repair you!”  
I could kill you, you know?!  
“Why would you?”  
You- For God´s sake, why would you even WANT to repair me?!  
“Why wouldn´t I? You´re my favorite animatronic after all!”  
Favorite… are you serious?!  
“Yes! You´re like Santa!”  
… Santa …  
“Exactly! Going around, giving gifts, making people happy!”  
A small laughter was kept back in the metaphorical throat of the creature. Startled he paused, not remembering the last time he genuinely laughed.  
Jeremy, you DO know that I was a danger to you at night?  
“Never got hurt by you, so… all you wanted was your music box after all and I understand that!”  
What? Are you honestly saying that you don´t mind people attempting to kill you for letting their music run out?!  
“HA! Finally you talk normal! And well… you were malfunctioning… someone who gives presents out to cheer up kids can´t be bad!”  
A staring contest ensued, a contest the puppet lost, for the first time in forever.  
You are… you´re a weird one, Jeremy. Stupid, but a nice form of it.  
With a giant grin Jeremy picked him up and held him face to face. “That´s the spirit! Better stupid and nice then smart and cruel!”  
…that´s a good philosophy. Keep it forever. But if you don´t mind me asking… what exactly did you repair about me?  
“Thankfully it wasn´t much, a few wires were damaged and of course you were a little dirty, but all in all I did barely anything.”  
The supernatural machine stayed silent, thinking. After a while he turned towards the window.  
What does the clock say? I have to return to my box before midnight!  
“Uh… it´s three o´clock already…”  
Panicked the being floated upwards, changing place rapidly from shadow to shadow.  
I HAVE to be at the restaurant! How will they… they will…!  
“Please calm down, Marion! I´m sure it´ll be alright!” The brown-haired boy tried to catch him in hopes of calming him down via the magic of hugs.  
You do NOT understand! I AM THEIR PROTECTION! THEY CAN´T THINK STRAIGHT! They aren´t able to make the right decision!  
“What are you even talking about? What decision?” In an instant the creature was right in front of him. It almost appeared as if it wanted to lash out, but suddenly it reappeared on the ceiling, looming over him.  
Tell me. Do you know the dangers of being kidnapped? Of losing your perception of reality and justice? Forgetting to struggle against your captor?  
Jeremy´s confused and fearful expression told him that it wasn´t the case. “Please, calm down, you´re making no sense!”  
The Marionette slowly descended, until he was back right in front of the Guard. Before he could say anything though, he was softly grabbed and cradled in Jeremy´s arms. Who did this human think he was?! This goddamn human, this piece of-  
Human. Right, Jeremy was a human. Not any human, but also an employee of Freddy´s... and authorized to “repair” the others. Why didn´t he thought of this before?  
You are right, Jeremy. I am overreacting. It is simply… my fellow machines are quite moody at night, as you know yourself. BUT, I am currently working on something to… fix them. You could help me, Jeremy! You are actually the one thing I need to fulfill my plan! Please Jeremy, will you help me?  
“O-of course! But… could y-you please slow down? What about the kidnapping thing?”  
Silently the Marionette wished he had thought of this sooner, so he could have prepared a nice bedtime story, something a child-minded man as this Guard could comprehend and believe. A nice, clean story, with no real villain and everyone ending up happy.  
Can you keep a secret? A well-guarded secret?  
“Anytime!”  
It´s a dark secret.  
“Tell me! Don´t make this so tense!”  
Inside the robots… are children´s souls. They… got stuck at… their happiest place. As every confused kid, they get scared at night and as many scared people, they get angry.  
“So, you mean…”  
Nothing seems to get into their head! Even worse that they misjudged every attempt at repairing them as an attack against them. They are lonely, confused and scared and I am helpless, I can only try to make them trust me. I have made them believe that I participated in their dark activities, telling them that I can only exit my box once the music runs out… a task I prayed all Guards were able to fulfill. But I have run into a dead end, with no plan on how to save everyone. The deaths have to stop! The hate hast to stop! Yet there is no way to do it. Except…  
“Except?!” As expected the Guy gobbled it up. With awe he watched him.  
Except if you give me a shortcut. Take a few screws out of me and replace them with new ones. Keep the old screws and use the first chance you get to insert them into the others. It will give me the ability to get inside their minds, calming them whenever needed. Soothe their broken minds and help them move on, to turn Freddy´s back into the paradise it could be.  
“So, no more death?”  
Never again. Peace and pizza!  
They both smiled about that weird statement. “Good, but I need to buy new screws, I don´t have any more in this house… I´ll buy some tomorrow.”  
Can you… take me along?  
“I won´t go to work, since I want to get you done, so it wouldn´t really get you anywhere…”  
Oh… I would just like to see a normal store… I´ve heard shopping for items can be fun…?  
“In that case, no problem! But how do I transport you? Wait, I´ve got it! I´ve gotten you here in a big backpack, would you mind being carried around again?”  
Not at all! It´s kind of like a piggyback ride, right?  
Jeremy smiled at the happy tone of the Marionette. It was always an accomplishment to cheer someone up. But even though he felt accomplished, he still felt the weight on his eyes. It was far too late for him, he should have been in bed for at least six hours already…  
Yawning the boy stretched his arms and shortly petted his new companion. “I´ll go to sleep now, will you be fine? Should I turn on some music? If you want you can always wake me up or sleep in my bed!”  
I- I will maybe take that offer up. Later…  
Tired and happy Jeremy got ready, snuggled into his soft blankets and stared into the dark. Silently he prayed for Mike, even if he trusted in the abilities of his friend, he was sure that it wouldn´t hurt. 

It didn´t.  
It didn´t make any sense at all.  
The robots were acting all weird. Weirder than usual of course.  
Mike checked the cameras for a split second. No one had moved yet. What were they fucking planning?!  
It was disturbingly silent. Shit, he was almost ready to go out and check up on them.  
Wait, if it was silent, what was with the music box?!  
FINALLY, a whisper.  
…  
A lot of whispers actually. What the fuck was going on?!  
His heart was bursting inside of his chest, the hot blood rushing to his ears obscured every quiet word from outside, making impossible to understand anything.  
But there could be a way.  
The power was quite high, so…  
Quickly he switched the cameras to the stage area. They were looking at each other, their voices getting hysterical.  
“Who is supposed to start? Can´t we all go together?”  
“Stop your whining Bonnie, you know you have to go first!”  
“But what if I don´t want to?! I had to do that the last few decades!”  
“If we don´t act like that we´ll never get him!”  
“We didn´t get him before! What makes you assume we could do the same all the time and one day it works?!”  
Chica yawned. “I´ll get myself some pizza, call me if you sorted your stuff out.”  
“You CAN´T eat pizza! The mechanic will have to clean it all out!”  
“I don´t care! See you later guys!”  
Bonnie looked at the camera and shrieked. “He´s looking! He´s LOOKING! What are we supposed to do?!”  
“Stop moving, stop goddam moving! L-look at the camera as creepy as possible!”  
“Chica come back here, we have to look CREEPY!”  
The chicken only waved at the camera while walking out of view.  
Okay, he should definitely take his pills. What the fuck was going on?  
Foxy screamed out of his cove. “HEY, HE ISN´T LOOKING AT ME, SHOULD I GO FOR IT?”  
Quickly Bonnie walked down the stage, but was stopped by Freddy. “The cameras! Bonnie he can see you moving!”  
“Then turn it off!”  
“GUYS SHOULD I?!”  
“STOP SCREAMING FOXY, HE CAN HEAR US!”  
“OH SORRY, I FORGOT! BUT SHOULD I?!”  
“FOR- YES.”  
Mike changed to Foxy´s cove and caught him mid-moving. The thing shrieked and hid back into the cove.  
Death would be a relief. He couldn´t wait to get suddenly yanked out of his chair and struggle against the iron grip of Freddy, who was laughing and playing his Toreador march while watching him clawing into the seats, trying not be taken away into the saferoom.  
No.  
Not now.  
Quickly he downed one of his pills and silently begged for the effect to quickly settle in. Now, no more wasting power. Left light, right light, waiting and breathing.  
More talking that he couldn´t understand, because Chica was trashing the kitchen as usual. A short while later, Bonnie finally appeared at the door, but… not really… normal.  
“MiiiiIIIIIkkKKKKKeeeEEE! I´m coooooooooming…. Tooooooo geeeet youuuuuuu!”  
Mike was actually too perplexed to close the door. “You were creepier when you stayed silent.”  
“Give me a break, I did my best! I thought I did it right… In the movie I watched it was the creepiest thing!”  
“Movie?”  
“Screw you! I´m going now!”  
Okay, yeah, the pills SHOULD have kicked in by now. This was real. This was happening. Keep watching Mike, this was getting out of hand.  
The Bonnie hurried over to the main stage, where Foxy was already hiding behind Freddy arguing.  
“I can´t go there, what if he makes fun of me?!”  
“Then you KILL him, Foxy, THIS IS OUR PLAN. Kill the Nightguard!”  
“Why even?!”  
“Because… because… because we were told so! Don´t you want revenge?!”  
“It´s been so long…”  
“DON´T YOU DARE! He will come out and kick your ass if he catches you saying that.”  
“He isn´t HERE! I wish he were, but he ISN´T!”  
Bonnie entered the stage, heading straight for the backroom. Freddy stopped and grabbed his arm.  
“Where are you going?!”  
“Into the backroom! The Guard is a dick! I gave my best creepy voice and he was CRITIZISING ME.”  
“And? Why didn´t you kill him?! Did he shut the door?”  
“U-uh… I kinda forgot…?”  
“HOW CAN YOU FORGET THAT?!”  
“STOP SCREAMING AT ME! HOW ABOUT YOU DO IT YOURSELF!”  
Foxy was whining. “Please guys, if you keep doing this, he might start looking at us again!”  
Mike was so absorbed into the insanity that he simply nodded as a box with pizza was placed next to him.  
“What are the boys doing now? They never get anything done…”  
Shortly the Guard looked up at Chica, processed a few seconds and then pointed his Taser at her. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!”  
“Having some fun? I´m even sharing my pizza with you. Geez, you really don´t know how to greet a Lady…”  
Because this world didn´t make remotely sense, he tipped his cap. The chicken giggled. “There you go! Fast learner, I see~”  
“What the fuck is even going on with you guys?”  
“We have… minor difficulties right now…”  
“Minor.”  
“Listen, I just wanted to get some pizza. I never was one for death and revenge… it´s so ugly. But hey, a girl´s gotta do what a girl gotta do.”  
They focused back onto the discussion going on. Bonnie and Freddy were now screaming.  
“HOW ABOUT YOU GO FIRST THEN?!”  
“I WASN´T THE ONE WHO DECIDED THAT? GO AND COMPLAIN IF YOU WANT TO BE THE MAIN CHARACTER!”  
“I WISH I NEVER PLAYED WITH YOU THAT DAY! I WISH I WERE STUFFED INTO ONE OF CANDY´S SUITS!”  
“CANDY´S IS SHIT!”  
“YOU ARE SHIT!”  
Mike felt drunk. Legit off his rockers. Slowly he stood up and left his office, sneaking towards the main area. Of course the animatronics didn´t notice, they were too busy throwing insults at each other and Foxy was whining in a corner.  
Now, as silent as humanly possible, he sneaked up behind them.  
“BOOO!”  
All of them screeched horrible and jumped a few steps back, Freddy almost fell of the stage. Foxy actually jumped down and run off, still screaming. Bonnie was holding his chest, simulating heavy breathing.  
“Good GOD, now he´s here?! What are we supposed to do?!”  
“KILL HIM OBVIOUSLY! BONNIE YOU STUPID-”  
“I WON´T DO ANYTHING YOU TELL ME YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!”  
Mike totally agreed.  
“YEAH, TRY IT YOURSELF YOU FUCKHEAD! Honestly, you should be called Freddy FUSSbear, because that´s all you do all day! A big fuss about NOTHING!” Bonnie made a loud OWWWW. “Come down, I´ll beat you in a fistfight every day! You couldn´t even fight the fucking orange!”  
“HE HAD A TASER!”  
“Ah, stop your excuses! Even in a normal fight you couldn´t last five fucking minutes! Come down here, TRY it!”  
“Yeah, Freddy, how about it? You always act all high and mighty, now it´s your chance to prove it!”  
The bear fixed his bowtie, a bit uneasy. “This revenge thing is teamwork, you know?”  
“Freddy is a pussy, Freddy is a pussy!” Chica had joined now, still munching on her snack.  
“You guys are the worst!”  
The human only shook his head. “Maybe, if you wouldn´t boss them around all the time, they wouldn´t make fun of you. Or maybe you should learn some good comebacks and stop being A LITTLE BITCH!”  
A few notes of the march were played, as Freddy stood up straight. “I would be careful who I call a bitch, after all who´s the one who can´t get a better job than staring at cameras all night? Who of us lacks actual talent? All you can do is scream and bitch! I bet the Phone Man only hired you as bait!”  
“At least I´m getting paid! You have to stand around all day and watch everyone being more popular than you!”  
“Well, at least I´m still liked by SOME people! You are not only absolutely useless, but also an asshat that should kill himself!”  
He couldn´t help it. He laughed. Bonnie and Chica joined in and even Foxy peeked around the corner. Embarrassed Freddy stomp on the floor. “Stop making fun of me!”  
“We aren´t, you idiot. I´m proud you learned some nice insults… even though you need some more coaching.”  
Bonnie put his arm around his friend. “Let´s take the night off, please? The boss ain´t even here, so what gives?”  
“IF WE DON´T KILL HIM NOW, HE WILL NEVER RESPECT US EVER AGAIN!”  
“Chill it Freddo, I already lost my respect for you when I first saw an advertisement of this hellhole.”  
Chica laughed and shook her head. “Yeah, we have the run of the house, first time in forever I think! When will we have that chance again? Come on, a bit of fun can´t hurt, right?”  
Foxy slowly joined, staying as far away from Mike as possible. They all looked at the leader of the Fazgang expectantly. Finally the machine sighed and crossed his arms.  
“Fine. But just this once.”  
The machines cheered and it was hard not to join in, even for someone as moody as the human. So… wait… what was he exactly doing here?  
Ah, shit, did he get himself more children? Please, non-existent-god, not more of those cancerous fuckfaces.  
“Mike has to make a party for us!”  
“Fucking WHAT?!”  
“Yeah, go Mike, make us cake!”  
“Chica will help!”  
“I´ll take care of the decorations!”  
“With your hook?”  
“Uh… right. I guess I´ll make a small stage play?”  
“YES! WITH MIKE!”  
“YEEEES!”  
The Guard wanted to argue, but was already taken away by Chica. “Do you know how to make cake?”  
“Do I look like a bitch?”  
“Everyone who´s unable to make cake looks like a bitch to me.”  
“I guess I´m a bitch.”  
“Don´t worry, I can teach you! My mom made the best cakes and I most CERTAINLY have the same talent!”  
“Christ, you´re an arrogant cunt, aren´t you?”  
“At least I´m not a looser without friends.”  
While the cake was baking, Foxy stormed in and grabbed Mike´s shoulders. “I HAVE THE PERFECT IDEA FOR A LITTLE PLAY! WE COULD IMPROVISE MOST OF IT AND EVERYONE CAN JOIN!”  
Their eyes met and immediately the fox let him go, jumping back a bit. “S-sorry, please don´t hurt me…”  
“For fuck´s sake, relax. I´m not doing a stage play.”  
“I- I can work with that! You won´t have to do anything but exist! I already have a great idea! Do you know the German fairytale called “the golden goose”?”  
“How the fuck would I know German shit?”  
“That’s GREAT! Let me just…” With that he was already gone. But before Mike could check the cake, a loud crashing out of the main hall was distracting him. Chica signed him to go and he quickly left.  
Bonnie was carrying a giant speaker box, another one laid on the ground. Guilty he hung his head. Mike only took them away and connected them to the power. Apparently it was fine, the sound came out clean.  
“Lucky rabbit, I would have killed you if you trashed my shit.”  
“At least I´m doing my part! You´re the one standing around! How about you get the plates and some drinks?”  
“Wait, how are you even able to eat and drink? Wouldn´t that kill you?”  
“… No? As long as the mechanic cleans us out, it´s fine.”  
“But wouldn´t that mean that you were made with the possibility in mind that liquid could enter you?”  
“We were stuffed with our old bodies, soda is the least weird thing that we had inside of us.”  
“So, you know you´re actually dead?”  
“Yes?”  
And here it goes, probably the next rescue mission. “… What´s your real name?”  
The bunny turned away, focusing on the plates. “I don´t know. I don´t remember.”  
Freddy came back out of the room with a remote. “What are you talking about?”  
“The party. Are the lights ready?” Swiftly Bonnie had changed the topic. Mike saw it as his sign to leave.  
In a few minutes the party was ready, the animatronics sat together, arguing and stuffing their face with cake, appearing quite happy.  
“Guys, why are there six chairs here?”  
They stopped short, laughed and returned with their conversation. Confused the Guard stared at the place next to him.  
Odd. Something was odd.  
Before he could reach for it though, Foxy picked him up and placed him on a decorated stool, which was probably supposed to be a throne.  
“What the fuck are you doing?”  
Excited the mechanical fox jumped in front of him. “My dear friends, let me tell you the saddest story in the world! It is about a beautiful princess, who brought the sunshine to the humans with her smile! Raised to be wise and righteous, the young princess took care to bring the light into every corner of the kingdom! Yet, one day she saw something horrible! A darkness so undefeatable, that she rushed into her palace and sat a long time to think about how to beat it. Little did she know, she was cursed the moment she saw the dark shadow!”  
The robots gasped, Mike started to feel VERY uncomfortable with his position. “I don´t like where this is going.”  
“SHE WASN´T ABLE TO SMILE ANYMORE! No more joy in her life, no more light in the world! It was down to four kind-hearted and brave animatronics to make the princess smile again! Let´s do our best!”  
With that he turned to Mike, who wasn´t having ANY of this. “Why the fuck am I a PRINCESS?!”  
“Because you´re beautiful!” The wink Foxy gave him was nothing he wanted to put up with.  
“How about-” Suddenly Foxy pushed him back down and tied him up with duct tape.  
“OH NO! She was also cursed with immobility! We have to hurry and save her!”  
Freddy shook his head. “Let´s make this easy and just…” He reached out for the cheeks of the Nightguard.  
“Touch me and I´ll dismember you, you little piece of shit.”  
“The princess words are command! But I have an idea!” Foxy jumped on top of the table and started to make a weird dance up. This was hell.  
Chica rolled her eyes, winked at Mike and took a slice of cake, throwing it right at Foxy´s head.  
“Ha, his mouth twitched, I win!”  
“No, he has to laugh or smile!”  
Bonnie went up to the chair. “I AM THE DARKNESS! I WILL KIDNAP THE BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS AND TURN HER INTO A BRINGER OF DARKNESS!”  
“OH FUCK NO, STOP HIM!”  
But already Bonnie had raised the chair over his head and ran away. Chica let out a battle cry and followed.  
“I´M LEGITAMATLY FEARING FOR MY LIFE RIGHT NOW! GET ME THE FUCK DOWN FROM HERE!”  
“Muwhahahaha, only a laugh could save you, my sweet! BUT YOU ARE UNABLE TO DO SO!”  
“NEVER CALL ME MY SWEET AGAIN, YOU FILTHY RABBIT!”  
“GET HIM PEOPLE! FOR THE PRINCESS!”  
“NO, SHE WILL MARRY ME AND DARKNESS WILL TAKE OVER THE LAND!”  
“REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”  
“Mike?! MIKE WHERE ARE YOU?!”  
Everything froze as Phone Guy entered the scene, out of breath and scared.  
“PG! SAVE ME!”  
Instantly Foxy made a shocked face. “Is that… THE LEGENDARY HERO! THE ONE DESTINED TO SAVE THE PURE MAIDEN?!”  
“M-mike, what is happening here?!”  
Bonnie shook the makeshift-throne. “THERE IS NO MIKE HERE! ONLY THE SUNLIGHT PRINCESS! MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE!”  
“W-w-wife?!”  
“PG, please get me down from here! What are you even doing, coming over at night?!”  
“You didn´t answer my call at three AM, I thought you were dead!”  
“Ah right, the call… Sorry, I kinda forgot…”  
“WHY ARE THE ANIMATRONICS CARRING YOU ON A STOOL AROUND?!”  
Chica screeched. “It´s a throne! He´s the princess!”  
“That doesn´t-”  
Freddy had enough. “DARKNESS IN FORM OF A BUNNY! I AM HERE TO FREE THE PRINCESS AND MAKE HER SMILE!”  
“NEVER! THE WEDDING IS ALREADY IN FULL SWING! I EVEN HYPNOTIZED ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS TO BE OUR PRIEST! FOXY, OBEY MY COMMAND!”  
“Oh n-no! I f-feel my body g-getting corrupted!” The fox pretended to struggle against a force.  
Chica grabbed Phone Guy and quickly took him around a corner, grinning evil, while Freddy was still attacking the Bunny.  
“YOU FOOL! YOU HAVE TO DEACTIVATE MY TRAPS FIRST! TURN OVER ALL THE RED PARTY HATS AND YOU MAY HAVE A CHANCE IN HELL! BUT BEFORE THAT I´LL BE THE HUSBAND OF THE SUN AND IN CONTROL OF THE WHOLE WORLD!”  
Freddy was running around while Foxy was saying some rubbish. “And in the name of light, who smiles down at every couple in existence and by my power as holy man, chosen by the sun itself, I shall pronounce you-”  
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!” Chica´s voice echoed through the whole establishment. “THE CHOOSEN ONE ARRIVED! KNEEL!”  
Out of the shadows stepped Phone Guy, but he was wearing a weird blanket as cape, had a Fazbear top-hat that someone has drawn on with a golden pen to make it look like a crown, as well as being wrapped into tinfoil and a light string, that flashed profusely. His whole head was covered in pink glitter and his shirt was buttoned open, revealing that there was even more glitter on the naked chest.  
Mike stared in silence. Nervous the Phone coughed. “I´m the vampire king.”  
That was too much. The Nightguard hid his face and laughed hysterical at this ridiculous scenery. The machines cheered and Bonnie went down on his knees. “NOOOOO… THE LIGHT… IT´S TOO BRIGHT…. UHHHHHG!” He felt onto his side and twitched. “I WILL BE BACK!!!! SHE WILL BE MY WIFE!”  
Phone Guy was picked up by Freddy and Chica and carried next to Mike. “THE HERO HAS COME, THE HERO HAS COME!”  
Foxy raised his arms. “SILENCE! It´s time for a marriage!”  
“W-wait, you told me it would be over after this!” The pitiable manager turned towards Chica.  
“I lied~”  
“Oh, please, t-this is too extreme, l-let us go now…”  
Curious the now freed Mike touched the metal on the side of PG´s head. Fucking burning. The poor man jumped away and hugged himself, twitchy as hell.  
“As the holy priest I am, I hereby pronounce you as husband and Phone! You may now kiss!”  
“How am I supposed to kiss a phone? He doesn´t even has lips!”  
The cyborg made some sounds that reminded Mike of an error message.  
Too bad that the animatronics had already circled them expectantly. “Just give him a kiss! Maybe on the receiver? Phone Guy, is that your mouth?”  
“No, his mouth is under the dial, like a human´s!”  
Phone Guy was trying his best to hide inside of himself. “Honestly, I´d rather be stuffed into a suit right about now…”  
“Are you fucking sure about that? I´ve heard sprinlocks are the worst thing that can happen to you.”  
“… what is this heck…”  
This was getting sickening. Mike dragged the Phone over and gave him a small peck on the side. The following sound was about the same of a dying copy machine.  
Cheering the kids ran around them, happy as fish in water.  
“So, now my fucking cancerous annoyances, YOU will clean the place up. No buts, no ifs, after the shit you did, I and PG deserve a break.”  
“Alright…” They said in synch and strolled away, taking care of the place. Chica even brought another serving of cake, in hopes of calming Phone Guy, who still was emitting quiet error noises.  
After a while he brushed off the glitter and closed his shirt, not looking at his friend. “I´m s-so sorry, I don´t know why this happened, I- I really didn´t expected that-”  
“Calm your tits, it´s just children having fun. Children are retards, so no wonder that as soon as they get any form of power they misuse it to force adults into their stupid games. I prefer this over gruesomely dying though…”  
“How did this situation occur?! Did they get you?”  
“No, they started to act all weird and fight with each other, I went out to scare them, they wanted to have a party and I… well, it´s my fault I guess. I was just a bit too curious.”  
“You could have DIED Mike!”  
“Yeah, too bad that I´m still here, right?”  
“Stop that. I´m serious.”  
Almost relaxed Mike patted PG on the back. “I just knew it would be fine. After all Chica was sharing her pizza with me, there wasn´t that much of a risk.” With a quick glance at the clock, he stood up. “It´s almost six AM, shouldn´t you charge yourself a bit before the day starts?”  
Not paying any more attention to his boss, he made his way over to the machines, watching them carefully. It was almost six AM after all.  
Tick.  
Tock.  
As the hour strikes, the animatronics shortly sunk into themselves, before reactivating. Confused they looked around, surprised when they saw Mike leaning on the wall. Foxy wagged his tail.  
“Mike! Mike, Mike, MIKE! You´re here already?! Wanna play? I have a GREAT story in store for you!”  
“I´ve had enough of your “story time” for one lifetime.”  
The disappointment was so prevalent inside of Foxy´s eyes that Mike ALMOST considered taking it back. Almost.  
“Don´t you remember what you did?”  
“No? What was it?”  
“Nevermind.” That was all he needed to know, there was only one thing left. Calmly he wandered over to the prize corner and knocked against the walls of it.  
Nothing.  
No padlock either.  
Someone unlocked the box and…  
He opened the lid. Empty and darkened by smoke.  
“PG? Would you mind coming over here?”  
“What is it…?”  
“Someone took the puppet away.”  
“WHAT?”  
“Someone STOLE the puppet.”  
“Oh GOD, NO, NO, NONONONOOOO!” He rushed over and basically stuck his head into the box. “NO, THAT CAN´T BE, IT CAN´T BE!”  
Without any further ado the man rushed into the office, panicking. That wasn´t what Jeremy wanted to ask about was it? Had he killed Jeremy? Did more innocence die, because he wasn´t listening?!  
Quickly he dialed the number into himself, anxiously waiting for a response. There was none.  
What has he done?  
Mike wasn´t allowed to know anything about this.  
Keep your mouth shut, don´t acknowledge it, it will go away, everything goes away after a while.  
No one would ever find out.  
Sweep it under the rug, it´s probably fine. 

The ringing phone inside of Jeremy´s flat was ignored, or rather not noticed, since it took a few more hours until Jeremy finally woke up, greeted by the far too close mask of the puppet.  
Do we go to the store now?  
“Good morning to you too! No problem, but I´d like to eat first.”  
Eating is overrated! Can´t you eat inside of the store?  
“Not inside of a store that sells nails, Marion. Come here, we could watch a little TV while I prepare my hot chocolate!”  
Hot chocolate…?  
“Yes! You want some too?”  
Jeremy, for Christ´s sake I´m a ROBOT.  
“Well… and? You´re a magically machine!”  
Magical- No, Jeremy, I don´t want anything, but thank you.  
Kindly the boy smiled at him and continued preparing a mug and toasting a bit of bread. The puppet couldn´t stop himself and wrapped himself around him, watching from a shoulder view on the things Jeremy was doing. His giggle was giving him the vibe that it was okay though.  
Why aren´t you eating yet? The toast is ready!  
“But the hot chocolate isn´t, so I first wait for it. Things are always better when they go together!”  
One breakfast and episode of Fredbear and Friends later, they were ready to go, the thin machine excitedly spied out of the bag.  
They weren´t talking on the way to the store, but the young Guard could tell by the shifting inside of his backpack that the creature was amazed by what it saw. A few times the puppet almost slipped away, hanging his limbs out of the opening to feel the air and the life outside.  
Yet, whenever Jeremy felt slightly nervous, the being instantly vanished back into hiding.  
Finally they reached the place and the Puppet almost slipped out of his hiding spot. There were SO MANY THINGS here! And thankfully not many people. With a quick flicker he deactivated the cameras and crawled on top of his partner.  
“Be careful that no one sees you, alright? What kind of screws do you need?”  
I- I don´t know, here is quite a selection, I didn´t expect that…  
“Should I open you up and take a look?”  
No! I need…  
Slowly Marion floated towards the shelfs, picking out some of them.  
I want these!  
“Alright, no problem, I´ll just-”  
“MOMMY, MOMMY! LOOK! THERE´S A GHOST HERE!”  
In a flash the Marionette was back inside his bag, leaving Jeremy to frantically trying to calm the kid. “N-no, you imagined that! T-there isn´t a ghost in my backpack!”  
With big eyes the child ran back and forth, trying to get her mother to come over, something Jeremy saw as a sign to run away as quickly as possible. Uneasy he hoped that the child wouldn´t get to the cashier until he was gone.  
Rushing they left the store, heading straight home.  
That was close. Sorry, I was just too…  
“Don´t worry, I understand! When I was a kid, I always wandered off and made my mommy worry.”  
Really? I expected you to be the best-behaved kid in the world!  
“I gave my best, but kids are kids…” Jeremy slowed down. “So, should I take the screws out of you right now?”  
Can we do that later…?  
“No problem? What would you like to do instead?”  
Maybe… go on a walk? Somewhere where I can float around freely…?  
“Will probably be hard, but… I think I know where we can go! There´s a small lake inside of the park and since it´s cold outside, there shouldn´t be people out there!”  
Fifteen minutes later Jeremy sat on the side of a lake, packed into ten layers of clothing, watching the ghost flying freely around, its laughter echoing in his mind. With beautiful forms he lured some curious pigeons closer, just to hunt them away and repeat the cycle.  
“Hey Marion! How can you even fly like that? Can the other animatronics fly too!?”  
He moved so quickly that he might as well teleported back next to him and circled him.  
The others can´t and even if, it would look silly. I don´t really know! It was one day… It… Do you need to know?  
“I would LOVE to! Please!”  
Marion settled down next to him, the good mood slowly drifting away.  
I saw… someone… doing something terrible. All of my mind started to burn, I felt like I was tearing apart. There was no other option than to follow them I HAD to! I HAD TO. I had to save them. And so I felt myself becoming lighter. Maybe I left something behind, but it wasn´t important anyway.  
“What happened then? Did you save them?”  
… No. I couldn´t.  
“I´m sure we can fix it. My mom said you can always either fix, forgive or forget!”  
We will fix them, Jeremy. Finally we will fix everything.  
He wrapped himself tightly around his partner´s upper body.  
We will save them. You will be my golden ticket. Promise me you will help me.  
“What are you saying? I promise you to help you do all the good possible!”  
Slightly chuckling the Marionette began floating again.  
I wish I were strong enough to carry you. It´s amazing over the lake.  
“Don´t mind it, seeing you fly makes me feel amazing already!”  
You´re an odd one Jeremy…  
“I can only return the compliment!”  
As it went dark, which was soon enough, it was fall after all, they returned to the flat and Jeremy began with the screws exchange. The puppet stayed silent for a while, thinking about something.  
Jeremy?  
“Yes?”  
Would you… keep me?  
“Keeping? You mean you want to live with me?”  
Yes.  
“But… I can´t lie to Mr. Phone Guy!”  
If you´d ask him, he´d say yes, I´m sure about that.  
“In that case I would love to have you around!”  
It´s… simply a thought. Maybe I won´t even need your help in this regard. I simply wanted to ensure. You may understand that I quite enjoy the freedom this new option gives me.  
“Oh no, believe me, I´d love to have a bit company in here!”  
The Marionette softly circled his new friend, smirking as the boy didn´t even appear uncomfortable or confused. This was nice. Better enjoy it while it lasts. Finally, after years, relaxation. Closing his eyes, he wrapped himself around the shoulders.  
Jeremy petted him. They deserved to at least pretend that the world was alright for a while.  
Someone else would probably deserve to pretend that the world was alright, but said person only got pain as reward for his hard work.  
Mike didn´t even minded having to walk about three thousand steps up to his flat, after all the exercise would usually keep his rage under control. What he minded though, were the muffled voices that gave him a bad feeling.  
“If you all go and blame ME for this, I´ll rather go back to the pizzeria!”  
“Well, f-frick you, Tom! No one likes you anyway!”  
“Both of you, calm down! Suzy, don´t say such words! Tom, stop complaining! There´s no way he will ever find out anyway!”  
If there was anything wrong with HIS place, he would go and thank Vincent for killing those brats and afterwards kill the cunt for being the reason that these assholes were here in the first place.  
Quietly he pushed the door open, sneaking into the room. Not that he needed to sneak, the offence was in plain sight. A tower was stacked up, made completely out of his belongings-  
HIS FRAGILE AS FUCK BELONGINGS!  
“WHAT THE LIVING FUCK DO YOU PIECES OF SHIT THINK YOU´RE DOING?!”  
Mike, that´s exactly the right way to react to this, you FUCKING GENIUS.  
As it had to happen, the children were startled and touched the stack, making it crash into itself. Hundreds of shards were covering the ground now, most likely ALL the glass and porcelain he owned, which wasn´t much, but desperately needed. Mike would rather jump out of the window instead of dealing with this situation any more.  
“I wish you were all aborted.”  
Richard shrugged, his fake bunny-ears twitching a while doing so. “I told them once, but they wouldn´t listen. Also, it was fun.”  
“I regret your deaths, because I would love to kill you all myself.”  
Suzy growled. “Shouldn´t have left us all alone! It´s your fault!”  
“I should check if I there´s a way to exorcise you all.”  
With a violent burst he began to punch down into the pile of trash, since he lacked any moving target. Again and again he grabbed things to fling them around, trying to break the little things still intact, for example the spoons. His whole vision was blinded, his body was burning numb, his mind was breaking and stretching outside of its confinements. There was no thought, no pause, nothing left to stop him from getting this all out. Hurt it. Kill it. End it. Break it before it breaks you.  
It took five minutes until he was able to process his surroundings again. The children were cowering in the corners of his place, between the splinters of things too broken to recognize. Everything that couldn´t be broken was dented beyond usage, now he didn´t even have a single piece of functioning cutlery in his house.  
A liquid was running down his raised arms and a short check confirmed that it was blood, origin from the glass shards that were burrowed into his skin.  
Almost calm he surveyed the wounds, hypnotized by the slow, thick drops dripping of his elbow.  
“A-a-are you alright?” Gary was terrified, but he was the leader after all. This was his job.  
“Yes…?” Tearing his eyes away from his wounds, he turned towards the children. “Where is Sally? The Chica?”  
“She´s in the kitchen. I think you helped her a lot.”  
Not even bothering to first medicate his wounds, he wandered off towards the kitchen, quietly entering.  
The girl sat in front of the window. The mask laid next to her.  
Her body wasn´t the greyish-white color of the others anymore, instead it glowed slightly golden. It was the gold of the sun, shining into a forgetting room on the attic. White dust would slightly obscure the shine, yet compliment it in a weird way, giving more warmth and sentiment to the light. It was a light reserved for the old and vanished, for the things who slept peacefully inside of their boxes. For the ones who were hiding from reality, dreaming of past days.  
She turned around, tilting her head and snickered. “You look like you´ve seen a ghost!” Slightly embarrassed she played with her hair. “Just joking… I know what you like when you see ghosts after all.”  
“You look… happy.”  
“I am! I feel great! As if I could just go wherever I want! Won´t do that of course… I have to wait for my friends. But you kind of seem troubled. What was all of that noise about?”  
“Your great friends destroyed my home. I can´t afford that much new shit.”  
“Nah, stop blaming the others. Most of it you destroyed yourself.”  
“Whatever. I don´t get guests anyway, so I´ll just steal some stuff out of my workplace.”  
“See? Every problem has a solution!”  
“I´d prefer not to do illegal shit.”  
“Since when?!”  
Mike sighed and cleaned his arms, trying his best to get the shards out of his skin. Surprisingly enough it wasn´t as bad as he first expected. Apparently there wasn´t even that much blood, just impressively spread out.  
Weird.  
Sally shrugged, but smiled. “Let´s go back and calm the others a little. You might scared them.”  
The scene was perplexing. Tom was sitting on the ground crying, Richard and Suzy were bitching at each other and Gary was holding his ears, trying to drown them out.  
“Listen up, fuckfaces! You will first clean up this place. If you do well, I´ll even read you a bit. Later you will come with me to Freddy´s.”  
“What?! OUR KILLER IS THERE!”  
“WE CAN´T!”  
“ARE YOU JOKING?!”  
“Well, since A FEW of you can´t be left for twelve fucking hours, you will have to come with me. There is no question about that and if you want to stay with me, you´ll have to deal with it.”  
They murmured among each other, but didn´t argue. Sally´s glow was probably just as calming to them as to the cynical guy himself.  
As expected, the flat was perfectly clean in ten minutes and the kids sat around Mike´s bed, slightly excited.  
And so he read for them a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So legit note here, the fairytale of the golden goose isn´t remotely close to Foxy´s story, the only similarity is that in both the princess is unable to smile.  
> I fear the day that I won´t be able to update within two weeks, so I have a question I´d like to ask: If I can´t make it, I would still add a chapter at least to inform you and I´m considering another option… I could turn the chapter into basically filler. A short little situation with the people being cute, probably without any advancements to “the plot”. They would be around 500 – 2.000 words long, really just a little entertainment as a small sorry. It just feels a bit better to me than only giving you a date when exactly the chapter will be released. (But, by the way, starting next week, every Sunday until Christmas will be another chapter out, as well as on New Year’s!)  
> Comments are everything to me and that´s why I´d like to thank everyone who took time to do that and especially “Anon the magical” for the regular interactions. Seriously, comments are the only thing that are able to convince me that I´m not writing complete bullshit, so every text, even if “mundane” or short as hell, is deeply appreciated!  
> Thank you for reading and I will eagerly await your opinions! x3


	13. Saving and playing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girls and Boys we´re only toys, no reason to be scared!  
> Since you´ve opened up the box, we became self-aware!  
> Keep an eye on all the children, now they´re watching YOU!  
> Everyone will think you´re crazy, who you´re talking to?!  
> \- JT Machinima – Tattletail rap

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally found out how to write this and this and this (to clarify: bolt, underlined and uh… this weird thing). To quote my reaction upon coping that into the note box and realizing that you CAN´T BLOODY SEE IT:  
> I´ll probably have to check on about every chapter that I wrote and look if it still makes sense. Thanks, Archive of our own!  
> (but not now, it´s like 4 AM.)  
> ALMOST FORGOT: Happy second Advent! (It´s what we call this day in Germany, I sure hope it´s the same in England…)

Old Sport yawned, waking up inside his soft and cuddly pillows, trying to ignore the obnoxious beeping of his alarm. Maybe he would sleep five hours longer and just be more careless with his appearance, no one really cared after all.  
Suddenly it was switch off, simply to be replaced by even more obnoxious laughter.  
Groaning the Orange Guy rose from his bed, almost falling back in as the little ballerina jumped straight into his face.  
“Morning to you too…” Even if he was a bit tired, he still felt warm inside. Stretching his arms he noticed a cup of tea by the side of his bed.  
Oh, come on! That´s just creepy.  
“Dave…? Did you break into my home again?”  
“It isn´t breaking in when you do it to a friend!”  
“Entering without-” He paused, remembering who he was talking to. “Just as it isn´t stealing, as long as no one misses it? Or as it isn´t murder as long as you weren´t DIRECTLY involved?”  
“That´s the right attitude!”  
“Small question, did Henry actually allow you to do this?”  
“… No?”  
“Have any idea WHY?”  
“Nope.”  
Between laughing and sighing Old Sport sipped on his tea and joined his friend in the kitchen. “Were you here all night?”  
“… Are you ready to go yet?!”  
Smiling innocently, the Purple Guard laid down the newspaper he was reading. The main page caught Old Sport´s attention, he wandered over and picked it up.  
\- The Jekyll Monster strikes again! Third body was found! -  
Silently he skipped the article.  
String of brutal murders won´t subside… third victim found… as always the slit throat was most likely the cause of death, gruesome mutilation only post-mortem… motive or connection between victims yet to be determined…  
“Dave? Was that you?”  
Guilty the man crossed his arms. “It isn´t my fault! They were contaminated!  
“What?”  
“Maggots! EVERYWHERE! I can´t risk you or anyone else getting infected! Henry agreed with me on that.”  
“I don´t care about Henry´s thoughts. If you get caught we have to leave again! I thought you liked it here?”  
“I do… But I wouldn´t like it anymore if I needed to fear being eating by worms in my sleep! Now, do you want to keep complain, or do you want to finally get ready!?”  
“… Give me five minutes…” Quickly the man vanished into the bathroom, placing Minireena outside and watching here skip off into some other room. After exactly five minutes Dave was knocking on the door like a madman.  
“YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE READY NOW! COME OUT, WE HAVE TO GO!”  
“W H Y? FREDDY´S ISN´T EVEN OPEN YET!”  
“WHO SAID WE WERE GOING TO FREDDY´S?!”  
“WHERE ELSE WOULD YOU GO?”  
“ANYWHERE! EVERYWHERE!” The door was unlocked and the Purple Guy crashed in. “And even if we wanted to only go to Freddy´s, I have the keys! We could set a trap for Phoney!”  
The disapproving glance of the half-clothed Old Sport melted away at that proposal. “What kind of trap?”  
“Actually I was thinking about an old classic… nothing too extreme, nothing too likely to get us shut down… the old magnet-trick!”  
“Go on…?”  
“Really, just a little fun. You know, Phoney´s head isn´t all that sturdy and made out of simple, light metal and that metal isn´t immune to magnets. The magnets of course will disturb the electric field necessary for the impulses getting through, after all the capacitator-”  
“Great, what does it do?!”  
“Make thinking and moving pretty hard. Aka: Drunk Phoney.”  
“… I´m in.”  
“I knew you would like it! Let´s get going, we have to prepare the magnet! We should get a few very small point-magnets, they shouldn´t affect too much of his important parts!” 

About three hours later, in another place, with another man, the day wasn´t as peaceful.  
“Suzy, if you don´t get here, RIGHT NOW, I´ll banish you into the void!”  
“Just try it, poopyhead!”  
“YOU`RE GOING TO HELL AND IF I HAVE TO DRAG YOU DOWN THERE MYSELF.”  
“Fine, fine, stop screaming at me…”  
Finally finished, Mike and his five children wandered towards the pizzeria, the adult gave his best not to act too weird in front of the strangers who passed by, a hard feat considering that all five minutes one of them started an argument or started to ran away.  
A miracle happened in form of them finally managing to arrive at the restaurant on time, but it didn´t really bettered Mike´s mood as he saw what was going on. The colorful duo was standing around his friend, leaning forward, obviously invested in whatever was going on, while Phone Guy himself was swaying on the spot, as if he was going to fall over any second.  
In a flash Mike was with them, scaring the Orange and making Vincent´s smile even wider.  
“Why, hello there Mikey! Came to the right time, could you keep an eye on Phoney?”  
Before he could answer both left, leaving him alone with the probably sick Head-Guard, who turned and began to laugh upon seeing him.  
“Oooooh! It´s cute lil´ Mike-mike!”  
“… Are you alright?”  
“You´re here, so… pff, yeas?” The Phone stumbled almost on top of him, laughing even more.  
“You… you should sit down.”  
“NoooooOOOOOooO! I wanna dance! Dance with me Mike-mike!”  
“Don´t call me Mike-mike, it sounds retarded!”  
“You´re such… s-such a meanie! I pour-r… you my heart out! And ALL I get is the MEAN!”  
“Did one of the dogs bite you again?”  
“Doggossss…. Are cute! You´re a cute puppy!”  
Worried Mike dragged his friend away from the curious glances of the customers, hoping to prevent the Phone from killing himself later because of all the embarrassment. All the way the man was spewing bullshit. PG didn´t smell like alcohol though…  
“Y-you… you know? You know, life without y-you is… like a bbbbrrrroken pencil!”  
“Please don´t.”  
“POINTLESS! AHAHAHAHAHAAHA!”  
“Why do I even bother?”  
“D-don´t divorce me Mikey!”  
“What?” It was a millisecond later that he noticed that he probably shouldn´t have asked.  
“Y-you´re the only one I have! Neveeeeer been married before… heh, e-even if I´m suuuuuuupoooossed to thhhhhink that! But don´ tellem! They´ll rip off mah head! I dunno mah wife, I dunno my kids, ALL lieeees… so I c-can´t kill meself!”  
Careful he was pushed down on a chair and his hands were shortly checked out. No blood, no bite-marks, nothing. Just as he wanted to ask one of the children if they had ANY idea what was wrong with PG, he noticed that they all left. Fuck. He needed to keep them from destroying shit.  
“PG, I´ll go and check up on the robots, I´ll be back in a while.”  
“NO! Simon says NO! A-annnd that´s whyyyy… ya stay!”  
“Simon says? Now?”  
“I´mmmm Simon! So, doo w-what I say!” The man was beginning to laugh again, but in a sudden burst the head fell forwards, emitting smoke. Shocked Mike stood frozen for a second and rushed out afterwards, trying to find Vincent in hope that he would know what to do. Trained technician and all.  
As expected he was with the Orange, making balloons animals.  
“And this is how you make a balloon-giraffe with broken neck and decaying body! It´s the runner with the kids!”  
“Here´s a snek! Don´t step on it!”  
“Old Sport, you didn´t even do anything!”  
Slightly aggressive Mike interrupted. “Vincent! PG is acting weird and smoke comes out of his head! DO SOMETHING.”  
“What are ya talking about, Mikey? He´s over there, talking with the lamps, looking just fine to me.”  
He jumped around and it was true, the Phone-head had left the office and was apparently giving a motivational speech to the aware object, if his body language was anything to go by. Bolting over, the Guard only caught the last bits.  
“S...sooo… if anyone ever askes, never ssssay yes to cereal. It´s like… like… baaad.”  
“How can anything be considered bad, if bad is nothing but another perspective on the endlessness of the universe?”  
“THAT´S RITE! Good lamp, you hit ´em where it hurts!” Phone Guy tried to pat the thing on its “back” throwing it off in the process. With a crunch the shards scattered all over the ground, leaving PG dumbfounded. Once Mike arrived the Phone was already giggling again.  
“Lookie, Mikey! I killed s-someone. Agaaaaaaaain! Haha, w-why does that always happennnn to me?”  
“What do you mean with again?”  
“Doooinn it all the t-time! But wouldn´t k-kill you! You´re mah FAVORITE! I´d e-evnnnn let ya pun!”  
“Okay, we will now go an-”  
“Oh Noooo! Sportsy has b-build a SWORD! NOoooOOOOooOO! Dangerous shiet! I´ll be RITE back!”  
“PG, you´re really not in the condition…”  
Before he could intervene though, the man had stumbled into the open party-room and pointed at the Orange Guard.  
“Heyo-o! Emploooyeee… Bad! B-bad employee! Balloon-w-weapuns are dangerous! Hand´em over!”  
Confident Old Sport swung the object around. “What are you talking about?! It´s literally a balloon, there´s no way in hell-”  
Accidently stumbling the Guard felt back a few steps, brandishing the sword in the process. Thankfully he caught himself quickly. “Woah, that was close!”  
With a movement he tried to swing his weapon again, but it was somehow stuck. He looked at his purple friend for some back-up, but was stunned as he saw the sword stuck halfway in his torso. “Ups.”  
“Yeah. Ups. Old Sport, why are you trying to kill me?”  
“I-I didn´t! How is this even possible?!”  
“The balloons here a quite resilient.” The four Guards stayed silent for a while, watching the thick, dark blood oozing out of Dave´s stomach. “Aren´t you going to help me?”  
Phone Guy laughed. “Aaaaha! Got stabbed by a balloon! What a loser! Hahahaa!”  
Mike slightly smirked as well. “Nah, you deserve this. Fuck you and fuck whatever you did to our boss.”  
Old Sport was full on grinning, making Dave dread what was to come. “Why should we? You´re obviously in a STABle condition! It would be BALLOONacy to think this could actually hurt you! Getting in between the balloons and you would probably only rub-ber you in the wrong way!”  
Both of the other unharmed Guards were between laughing and banging their head in, having a grand ol´ time. The punster bowed in all directions. “I´ll be here all week, thank you!”  
The Purple Guy on the other hand was getting slowly pissed off. “If you don´t stop, I´ll shove an eggplant right up your urethra.”  
“I´d love to have YOUR eggplant shove up my- wait what? That´s… not what I expected…”  
“Last chance, sportsy.”  
“Aw, come on! Don´t be so mad!” Softly he tugged the sword out of the body. “My jokes were on point though, admit it!”  
Phone Guy was still laughing hysterically. “Noooormally! I´d fire you for stabbing ´n stuff, but thaaat w-was great!” Clumsy he put his arms around his worker. “Doo t-that one again soon, y-yeas?”  
Growling Dave dragged Old Sport away and reached under his bosses Phone-head, taking of three small magnets. “This went on long enough…”  
Groaning out of pain, PG rubbed his dial and shook his head a few times. “W-what just happened? Am I dead?”  
“Sadly no. But neither am I, we´re at least stuck together.” Mike sighed and gave him a fairly neutral pat on the back, finally having the time for the next problem that was waiting patiently in line. Where the fuck were the kids?!  
The lights flickered, giving him a hint. As fast as possible while staying unsuspicious, he wandered over to the dreaded power cables. Tom was holding two ends and made bright blue sparks jump over again and again, laughing his fucked shit-eating laughter.  
“Tom, what the living fuck are you THINKING?!”  
“I AM THE THUNDERGOD! THE SUPERHERO FROM OUTER SPACE!”  
“No, you´re not, you´re a dead kid inside a shitty pizzeria.”  
“NOOOO! CAN´T YOU SEE MY POWERS?! LIGHTS, OBEY MY COMMAND!”  
The boy pushed the cables closer once more, almost causing a short-circuit. The lights flickered once more.  
Now Mike realized that he had another option. After carefully checking for any onlookers, he crouched next to Tom and shook his head. “Did you know I was once literally hooked onto this line? I´m the elder thunder god.”  
“You´re… are you lying?”  
“Nope. I wish I were, but I´m serious.”  
“WOW! Do you have some SCARS from it?!”  
“… Probably? If you stop with your shenanigans, I´ll show you this evening, alright? A young superhero like you should take his time learning.”  
“Oh man… but what am I supposed to learn with?”  
“Come with me, I have an idea.”  
They entered the prize-corner and got Matt´s attention. “Yeah, what do you want?”  
“I need a pack of batteries.”  
“Great. That makes 150 Tokens.”  
“…”  
“You don´t have any Tokens, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Well, deal is deal, go and earn some Tokens.”  
“Fuck yourself.”  
“Likewise.”  
Once again fairly riled up, Mike was making a step back, as Old Sport suddenly swooped in. “Call me your sugar daddy, cuz I´ve got you covered!” In an epic movement the Guy threw the Tokens right into Matt´s face, replacing his eyes with the coins as the desired item was placed on the counter.  
The whole “sugar daddy” affair made Mike hesitate, but he grabbed it anyway.  
“Thanks… I guess…?”  
“Ah, no problem. Not all can be badass animatronic-cage-fighters, right?”  
“Oh, how I envy you.” Sarcasm dripped out every word.  
“Welp, gotta go, entertain kiddens and shit, see you later! By the way, what do you need them for anyway?”  
“None of your fucking business.”  
“Wow, rude. Whatever, hope you have fun!”  
Out of eyesight Mike handed Tom the package. The boy suddenly began to laugh and cry at the same time, leaving the Guard speechless. It got progressively get louder and louder. After a few minutes Tom took of his mask and dried his tears, smiling.  
“My father… my father always told me he had to keep me from eating those… b-because I´m a superhero with electrical powers! And then we would go and play outside, he would be my courageous sidekick and I… I would save him, until mom came home and it was time for dinner, a-and whenever the TV or lights didn´t work, he asked me for my opinion, because he said had the power to feel what was wrong with them and I- I… One day he gave me a package of batteries, l-laughing and s-said I was now ready and soon grown up… t-that I c-could now control my p-powers…” Shortly it appeared as if he would start to cry again, but it devolved rather in laughter. “I… I think my father was the real superhero after all.”  
Silent the older one watched him, unsure what to do.  
Suddenly Tom´s translucent changed from gray to white to the soft shade of gold. The shine once more relaxed the Guard who hadn´t even noticed how tense he was before.  
“Thank you, Mike.”  
“I… I didn´t really do anything.”  
“You did more than you can ever imagine.”  
Awkward the Guard shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “I… have to look for the others. You´ll be fine?”  
“Yeah, I´ll be with Sally and play outside a little. Is that alright?”  
“Don´t…” Don´t what? Get run over? Get KIDNAPPED? For fuck´s sake, there´s LITERALLY NOTHING that can happen to them. “… Get lost.”  
The boy strolled away, his mask hanging from his relaxed hand.  
Well, since he now knew where Sally and Tom were… two down, three to go. And how fate sometimes was, the third one was running right at him.  
“Mike, Mike, Mike, Suzy is doing bad things!” Gary was distressed and as soon as he came close enough started tugging on his shirt like a maniac. “Suzy is HURTING people, Mike! Please, please do something!”  
“Tell me something that DOESN´T hurt people in this place.”  
“MIKE, I`M SCARED!”  
“Fucking pussy-ass bear, can´t even beat up a fox-girl. Okay, where is she?”  
“S-she´s in the kid’s cove!”  
Annoyed by all the running he already had to do, he kept nothing more than a fast pace to get into the desired room. Toy-Freddy hadn´t promised too much as he said that Suzy was hurting people, she was dragging kids into the ball-pit, trying to drown them.  
“YOU LITTLE FRICKS WILL NOW PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME! DIE! DIE! DIE!”  
“Suzy, for FUCK´S SAKE, DIDN´T I TEACH YOU HOW TO USE THE WORD FUCK?!”  
“FUCKING KIDS DIE IN HELL, I´LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!”  
“Better. Wait, Suzy, YOU CAN`T KILL KIDS!”  
“WHY NOT?!”  
“BECAUSE WE WILL GET SUED! AND IT IS IMMORAL AND SHIT!”  
“FUCK YOU!”  
“FUCK YOU TOO! GET OUT OF THERE!”  
“WHAT IF I SAY NO!?”  
“THEN I´LL GET YOU!”  
“TRY IT, ASSHOLE!”  
“I-” Suddenly Mike noticed that everyone was staring at him. Parents were getting their children, keeping them away from the lunatic.  
Now he was truly pissed off. This whole day he managed to NOT getting weird stares, was dodging suspicion left and right and now this cunt came along ruining everything.  
Quietly he murmured. “Toy-Foxy. You will come out of there. NOW.”  
The small girl winced and slowly forced herself out of the pit.  
“Now listen, kid. Killing doesn´t better anything.”  
“YES IT DOES!”  
“You don´t understand anything, do you?” His eyes wandered over her, noticing how much darker her body was compared to Gary´s. “You´re getting sick.”  
“I hate you.”  
“I hate everything.”  
She hugged herself and turned away. “Leave me alone.”  
“I can´t if you go around trying to kill people.”  
“I´ll… I-I…” The young kid started to sniffle. “I- They destroyed Toy-Foxy!”  
“No, they didn´t. There are many kids here, not all destroyed her… him. It.”  
“I still want them dead.”  
“How are you supposed to ever move on like that?”  
“… I wanted to see Toy-Foxy repaired. By someone who actually cared about us. But you RUINED that dream!” She spun around, her fist clenched. “I WILL NEVER MOVE ON! AND IT`S YOUR FAULT!”  
With that she left, probably to cry in a corner. Gary shook his head, gave Mike an apologetic look and followed her, to cheer her up.  
…  
Four down.  
Now, where was Gay McRabbit?  
Quickly he hurried over to the stage, hoping that he would have a better view over the scene from there. As luck would have it, the kid was standing right on top of the stage, crying and screaming hysterical. Mike tried to keep his voice down, in hopes of not attracting any more attention.  
“The fuck is your problem, Richard?!”  
“H-he… H-h-he… OLD BONNIE STOLE MY GUITAR!”  
“Your guitar?! Isn´t that rather Toy-Bonnie´s guitar? Are you the animatronics or aren´t you?! I´m getting confused!”  
“I WANT IT BACK!”  
“SH, I´ll take care of it.”  
Crossing his arms, the small boy only sniffled, trying to calm down, as Mike tipped on Bonnie´s shoulder.  
“Hey, Bonnie, that´s Toy-Bonnie´s guitar, right?”  
“And?”  
“Well, don´t you think you should give it BACK?”  
“Why? He´s broken.”  
“What if I tell you, his soul is still here?”  
“Then he can go away and buy himself another guitar. Scram, I won´t give you my cool guitar, no matter what bullshit you tell me.”  
“If you don´t give it to me willingly, I´ll have to fight you.”  
“Try it, looser!”  
“Mah d00ds! What´s going on?” The Orange Guard was there, apparently having nothing better to do. “Hey Bonnie, nice guitar!”  
“Thanks Mr. Orange Man!”  
“And Mike? Are you planning on joining my profession?”  
“Fuck off, I´m busy.”  
“With what?”  
“I need the guitar.”  
“Why?”  
“None of your FUCKING business!”  
“Alright, alright. Bonnie?”  
“Yes?”  
“Please give me Toy-Bonnie´s guitar.”  
“But… t-that´s unfair! I like this one!”  
“Do you remember when I gave you back your face? I was wearing it, having great fun. Yet, still I knew I would have to give it back to you, because it belongs to you, no matter how much more I liked it. So, do the right thing, Bonbon, and hand it over.”  
With hanging ears the animatronic hold out the item, sulking silently. “Please don´t hurt me, Mr. Orange Man.”  
“Why would I?! You´re so weird!” Laughing he gave the guitar to Mike. “So, everything fine now?”  
“… Why are you always around? Helping me and shit… are you stalking me?”  
“W-what?! NO! I´m NOT a stalker! I´m… I actually want a favor from you.”  
“I fucking knew it. Don´t expect too much, I´m not one to get guilt-tripped.”  
Watching his shoes, the man hugged himself, swaying from side to side.  
“The kids you´re doing this for. Tell them… tell them it really wasn´t anything personal. Tell them I´m… I´m sorry.” His eyes glowed brightly, fear suddenly bursting out inside of them, as he saw something not really there. “F-forget I said anything. Forget it, forget it, forget it!” Slowly he stepped back, letting his glance wander.  
They were all here.  
Mike wondered if the man could see them.  
They were all here and waited, hiding behind his legs, scared but curious.  
But all of a sudden they ran away, as the Purple Guy joined the conversation. “What´cha doing, sportsy?”  
“Telling Mike he looks like a rotten egg.”  
“Fuck you, Orange.”  
Dave snickered and wrapped his arms around both of their shoulders. “Really, I always knew you would like each other! That´s great… oh, while I´m at it, hope you ain´t CHARGING me because of what happened last Friday!” He accepted Old Sports applause with a nod. “Yeah, you aren´t the only one who knows a few things about wordplay.”  
Mike´s almost constant death-wish returned as he shrugged off the touch. “Oh, right… yeah… about that… well, I got shot some liquid, fell over and lost my memory of Friday night. JUST Friday night. No idea what happened. NONE AT ALL. Don´t even try to talk about that with me.”  
“Did Phoney convince you to say that? Fucking hell, you´re stupid.”  
“Could you now fuck off, so I don´t have to look at your punchable faces anymore?”  
The smile got even wider. “Mike. I like you. I really do! You fit in our family.”  
In a weird mood shift, Old Sport turned away and even Mike felt the need to escape the situation. Dave eyes were brightly glowing white, illuminating his face in an unsettling way. “I like you so much as a member of our little Fazbear-Family that I might even make you an animatronic! So you would NEVER really leave us! What would you say about a big, bad wolf? Would fit you, wouldn´t it? You would scare the bad bullies and give terrible life-advice… oh, pardon, I meant YOUR ANIMATRONIC would do that.”  
The air felt slightly hotter and drier, making Mike body´s shiver. “Don´t even TRY that. I WILL destroy you.”  
“Ahaha! That´s the Guard I know and appreciate! You´ll be a splendid character…”  
Old Sport interrupted and softly nudged his friend. “Let´s… come on, Dave, let´s go do something fun.”  
“Fun? I´m all ears!”  
“We could… uh… I´ll tell you when Mike isn´t around.”  
They left the Guard alone with the small ghost. It was a short break between songs, the animatronics began to leave the stage to interact with the children.  
Since there was no reason for anyone else to stick around this place anymore, Mike felt relatively safe handing Richard his stuff over.  
Excited he jumped around. “YAS! MY GUITAR! Do you want to hear a solo?! Do you? Do you?! I´m a GREAT musician!”  
“No, I´d rather-”  
As to be expected, the kid began playing his heart out, making the adult want to rip his ears off. The only thing stopping him from doing so however, was the slow brightening of Toy-Bonnie´s body.  
If it took his sanity and ears to safe a child´s soul…  
Wait, since when did he ever consider NOT being a dick?  
“Fine, great, you sound like a dying cat, now SHUT IT Richard, I´m going INSANE! It sounds like shit!”  
Offended the young boy took off his mask and showed him his tongue, stalking away towards the entrance.  
Exhausted Mike took of his cap and rubbed his head. It wasn´t all bad. Three happy children, glowing golden, seemingly ready to go to the true afterlife and he had already an idea how to get Suzy to shut the fuck up for five minutes. IF he would get a good knife that was.  
Time for a little down time. Only ten people had seen him, he wouldn´t be send to the police again and he hadn´t made a total idiot of himself, as long he managed to delete the security footage.  
“Mike…? Do you feel better?”  
Oh, fuck me. “PG? How much did you see?”  
“Uh… you screamed nothing for a while, so I thought I would check up on you?”  
“I… okay, I have no explanation. I´m insane and untrustworthy.”  
“No, no, don´t worry…” Awkward the Phone scratched himself behind his head. “You know… it somewhat calms me that you… I mean…” Now really embarrassed, the man shifted from side to side. “I- I hope that isn´t insensitive, but seeing you acting weird, makes me feel more comfortable. Whenever we see each other, something goes terrible wrong and I feel like you think I´m an idiot, which I am, don´t get me wrong, but I don´t want it to get even worse…” Now he was having half a break down. “You know about the PRON, you had to take care of me while I probably said the WEIRDEST things that even I can´t remember a-and you´ve seen me in this stupid costume Chica improvised for me…”  
“I´ve taken care of more than enough stupid insecurities of other people, don´t you start that shit now as well.”  
That hit his superior harder than expected. “I… I see… s-sorry I brought it up…”  
“STAND UP STRAIGHT, YOU CRETIN!”  
He jumped into positon out of sheer shock. “W-what?!”  
“WHO`S THE BOSS?!”  
“U-uh… I think…”  
“YOU AREN´T PAID FOR THINKING, ARE YOU?! NOW WHO´S THE BOSS?!”  
“STOP SCREAMING AT ME!”  
Surprised Mike backed down. “Sorry, boss.”  
Phone Guy wasn´t sure if he should smile or roll up on the office chair and die. “You´re a terrible motivator, Mike.”  
“Wasn´t hired for that.” He stretched and rubbed his eyes. “Once more, so you can finally get it into your thick skull. I don´t care about your PRON, I don´t care about what you say when you aren´t really you and I was just as humiliated by the kids as you were. Stop your whining and do something productive.”  
“Are you… honest with me?”  
“Do I look like I care enough to lie to you?”  
Even if it wasn´t physically possible, Mike could FEEL the smile of his friend. “No. You wouldn´t ever lie to anyone.”  
“Ya got it! Now I´ll take a quick break before I slit my wrist, I´ll be right back.”  
“Do that, I will take a look at the robots. You know where you can find me.”  
Before the man could make more than three steps into the other direction, Mike called out.  
“Simon, wait!”  
Phone Guy´s whole body froze.  
They stood a while in silence, since the Guard hadn´t planned anything out to say if it actually worked.  
“That´s your real name, isn´t it? Sim-”  
“You´re talking to yourself again, Mike. Go and take your break.”  
With that the conversation was finished. Some things were better left forgotten for now and he could respect that. One day they would talk about it. Maybe.  
Fine, he deserved the break.  
Since Freddy´s lacked any actually kind of employees lounge, fucking stingy management, he wasn´t sure where to go. Outside was an option, but there the brats were probably fooling around and he was trying to calm down.  
The other option was the saferoom. Not pleasant either, but at least it was quiet there.  
Surprisingly enough, there was apparently someone already in there, the door stood open a creak. Purple Guy´s voice sounded slightly distressed.  
“Wait here, he said, it´ll be a minute, he said, you will have fun, he said!”  
Mike stopped, between unsettled and curious.  
“You know, Fredbear, I hate being forced to sit around like that. It makes me think about uncomfortable things.” The pause wasn´t even that long. “For example, about this weird thing! Like you know, everyone in this place is attracted to animatronics, I mean, that´s no secret to anyone. Old Sport and Phoney want to yiff the fox and while I don´t really understand why it is the FOX of all of them, I don´t really judge. Jeremy would go out with whatever asks him, no question there and Mike would rape them out of spite. I never felt the same way as them though. You guys are kids, for fuck´s sake. I might be a child murderer, but I´m not at THAT level of fucked up.”  
Slight tapping was audible. “On the other side… if you were alive you would be an adult by now, wouldn´t you? And I didn´t even celebrate with you! I hope you aren´t mad… but you wouldn´t even want me to celebrate with you… not this time, right?” Quiet laughter. “Well, sorry, I got off track. Where were we? Ah, right, the thing. While I AM the only person in this fucked place who hasn´t any fantasy about robots, I still… you know, I still would like to see Old Sport dress up as you. Not IN you, if you know what I mean, rather this cosplay-thing the cool kids are talking about. Really, I NEVER found anything about you attractive, but I just NEED that in my life! Am I infected? Do I need more sleep? I´m THIS close to sit down and make him this vest myself and get him a bow tie and top-hat… but would that weird him out? Is there any way I can subtly make him wear it, without-”  
Old Sport rushed in, ignoring Mike completely and entered the saferoom. Normally Mike would comment on the FUCKING BLUE AND PURPLE TUTU THE FAGGOT WAS WEARING, but it would be too much of an intrusion, it was his fucking choice after all.  
“DAVE! MARVEL AT MY NEW PERFORMANCE OUTFIT! I AND MINIREENA ARE IN PARTNERLOOK!”  
A snorting sound was made. “Great! I mean, whatever strikes your fancy… looking cute, Old Sport!”  
“YES! Now, it´s time for a dance off! We against you! Get ready for some top-off-the-class-ballerina-action!”  
“Later, Old Sport, we have something better to do!”  
“Aww, but I changed just for that!”  
“You know I´m a piece of shit.”  
“You made Minireena SO sad!”  
“She´ll get over it, just like she got over never seeing her parents again.”  
The small animatronic laughed and Mike decided it was his time to get out of here, before he would get caught by them. There was really no place in this hell to get a break.  
Maybe the office would give him some space for himself. If it came down to it, he would simply shut the fucking doors.  
The office was empty and somewhat peaceful. The constant humming of the technic, together with the warmth they produce didn´t make for the most comfortable room, but at least he could make himself some coffee.  
While sitting down, a large stack of papers caught his eyes. Probably nothing but legal documents… or not?  
The first paper was a picture of Bonnie using a rope to hang an adult-sized stick figure, underlined with the words “One day…”  
Okay. That was kind of creepy. He was fighting for his life against haunted machines and worked together with dangerous psychopaths who proven themselves as violent and even HE thought this was creepy.  
Hoping that no one gave a fuck, he threw it into the bin.  
Next one!  
Oh.  
Oh sweet god, this was even worse.  
Someone had drawn an animatronic gangb-  
TRASH.  
What was WRONG with this place?!  
One last paper, he couldn´t take any more.  
Huh, this one was actually not that bad, it appeared to be just a normal complaint.  
Oh wait, never mind.  
“What the fuck did you just fucking say about Candy´s, you little bitch? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the animatronic destruction squad and have 300 confirmed kills-”  
There was a note in purple on the side. “300? What a joke. I killed that many using only a lemon.”  
A note in orange was right under that. “IF HE WOULD FIND THAT OUT, HE´D BE SOUR!”  
And another one for the bin.  
Wow, that what was PG had to deal with on a daily basis? For the first time in his life he felt some form of sympathy for another living being.  
What a bust. Resentful against the whole world he took a sip of his coffee. How can this business even run? SOMEONE had sold their soul to keep this place alive that was the only almost logical explanation.  
Didn´t he still had to do something? Oh right, knives and forks. Some plates as well.  
While at things to do, where was Jeremy?  
Yes, the boy was usually busy as the only person who actually did his work and entertained the people, as well as serving food, but he hadn´t shown his face anywhere today.  
If he was inside of the office already, might as well summon PG. He drew a right-sided pentagram with the rest of his drink and murmured. “Yiff, yiff, yiff.”  
In a blaze of glory Phone Guy materialized. “DOES THOU HAVETH A QUESTION? O-Oh, it´s you Mike. What´s the matter?”  
“Where the fuck is Jeremy?”  
“J-Jeremy…” He coughed. “W-well, he didn´t come in this morning a-and didn´t answer my calls… I assumed he might be sick, s-so I didn´t worried…”  
“For someone who doesn´t worry, you sure stutter a lot.”  
“O-okay, I might worry A LITTLE, but can y-you blame me?! It´s REALLY weird for him to not appear l-like that…”  
“I´ll visit him later.”  
“N-NO!” The odd look of his co-worker made him stutter even more. “I… I mean, you don´t have to bother! I´m sure he´d call if he needed anything! I mean, I´m available twenty-four-seven, for obvious reasons, so whenever something comes up, I´ll know it!”  
“Phone. You creepy son of a bitch. You´re really acting weird, where´s the body?”  
“NOWHERE! NO BODY! I DON´T KNOW ANYTHING!”  
“PG…”  
“F-fine! We´ll go together!”  
“But who takes on the nightshift then?”  
“I can do both!”  
“… We could take the nightshift together as well, if you think about it…”  
Phone Guy was now covering his whole face. Or at least the part of his phone that had replaced his real face. “I hate myself…”  
“Start acting like an adult.”  
“Sorry, sorry… Okay, we´ll take the nightshift together and we´ll visit Jeremy beforehand.”  
“Good. See you later.”  
Mike left, leaving Phone Guy with the existential dread. Not only existential, but regular dread as well. Now, think Phone-head, THINK. If Jeremy´s place is a complete massacre, with his body parts scattered EVERYWHERE… how should you react?  
Fainting was a bad idea, especially since he was probably the one who needed to clean the place, before the police would be faced with the pesky task of connecting him to the Freddy´s establishment. But before he could get rid of the body, he would somehow need to get Mike away. Shouldn´t be as hard, considering that no one in their right mind would want to stick around… but was Mike really someone in his right mind?  
The day ended, for the first time quicker than the Phone wished for.  
Old Sport and Dave left right at six, snickering and discussing with each other, only acknowledging him with a nod, before walking past him. What were they up to?  
Too many problems, no solutions.  
“So, let´s get going, I don´t want to waste too much of my time.”  
And with those words, they left after closing the place for the hours. Phone Guy couldn´t find it in himself to make polite banter and Mike appeared distracted by something only he could see anyways.  
They ended up in front of a rather desolate looking block out of cement, something not uncommon for someone working for almost minimum wage.  
They pushed the button where “Fitzgerald” was scribbled with a colorful letters next to it.  
A few seconds passed.  
“Alright, Phone-face, make sure no one can see me, while I pick the lock.”  
“Y-you CAN´T! That´s illegal!”  
“Yeah, yeah, now get in position.”  
“I won´t take part in breaking the law!”  
Dry laughter was his answer. “Suuuuure… whatever, you can fuck off if you´re too scared.”  
Unhappy PG waited around, praying for a miracle. Who knew what they would find inside?  
It was too dangerous.  
He couldn´t lie to Mike.  
To everyone but Mike.  
But… what if Jeremy didn´t take the puppet? And was simply sick?  
If that was the case, Mike would still hate him, since he could have been the reason for Jeremy´s death.  
Yet, the other scenario was much more terrifying. If Mike died, because he had lied to him, he would just rip off his own head.  
Would telling him about the Marionette stop the stubborn Guard though?  
“I´ve got it, we can enter now!”  
And still. Mike shouldn´t die because of a filthy lie.  
“M-Mike, wait!”  
Annoyed the man turned around. “WHAT?”  
“I… The puppet might be in there.”  
“What?!”  
“I think Jeremy might took it… h-he wanted to a-ask me yesterday about something and I… I just told him he could do whatever he wanted…”  
“YOU DAFT MOTHERFUCKER! WHY DIDN´T YOU TELL ME WHEN I SHOWED YOU THE EMPTY BOX!?”  
“B-because I was scared, Mike! You would have rushed over here and tried to safe him, killing yourself in the process!”  
“IF HE IS DEAD, I`LL RIP YOUR FUCKING THROAT OPEN.”  
With that he shoved open the door and entered, tense as fuck and ready to fight whatever would jump at him.  
Phone Guy rushed past him, protectively taking the lead.  
The cold stairwell went on almost endlessly. The dirty grey of the walls, which probably used to be white, together with the constantly flickering of the broken lights made the whole trip even more claustrophobic.  
To both their surprises, the highest floor was decorated with hand-drawn pictures of flowers, suns and Freddy characters. Concentrated, Mike began working on the lock, breaking it in a little under a minute.  
Slowly the entrance opened, creaking madly and warning whatever was inside of their presence. Without any kind of hesitation they took a look.  
The place was clean, nothing like blood or guts on the wall, only a pleasant blue. No signs of a fight. No signs of life either.  
“So… he didn´t take the puppet…? Yeay….?”  
“Shut the fuck up, what about this situation is YEAY to you?! JEREMY IS MOST LIKELY KIDNAPPED! AND YOU WERE SITTING IN THE RESTAURANT, TWIDDELING YOUR THUMBS, WHILE YOU THINK THIS POOR BOY WAS IN MORTAL DANGER! YOU FUCKING PSYCHOPATH!”  
“I DIDN´T KNOW HE WANTED TO REPAIR THE PUPPET! I WOULD HAVE SAID NO, BUT AT MORNING IT WAS TOO LATE ANYWAY!”  
“WELL, FUCK YOU! I LOOKED FOR YOU AFTER YOU VANISHED, DESPITE IT BEING MAYBE TOO LATE! IT ISN´T ABOUT TIME, IT`S ABOUT PRINCIPAL!”  
“I´M SORRY, MIKE, BUT I COULDN´T ENDANGER YOU! IT JUST WASN´T WORTH IT!”  
“WASN`T WORTH JEREMY´S LIFE?! OF THE ONLY SENSIBLE ONE IN THIS HELLHOLE?!”  
“YES! I CARE ABOUT YOU!”  
Suddenly, a creak.  
They turned.  
Jeremy stood there, the puppet wrapped around his neck like a scarf, carrying a bag of groceries. “Oh, hello Mike, hello Mr. Phone Guy! Why did you break into my home?”  
Awkward silences ensued, as the puppet stared back at them.  
“Jeremy! So you´re… fine! How about you call me, before you take a day off? We… REALLY worried about you!”  
“Oh no! I´m sorry, sir! I assumed you´d already expect me to take a day to repair the puppet! But, look! I did it! Isn´t he cute?!”  
Mike and Marion were stuck in an intense battle of will. “Oh YEAH, the death-machine is TOTALLY cute!”  
Oh, I may never compare to your adorableness! Especially when you leave kids to suffer, forcing them to use their own devices!  
Phone Guy sighed, tired of all this. “Let´s… let´s just go, Mike. Jeremy looks just golden.”  
“B-before you go! Sir, may I keep him with me?”  
“The puppet?!”  
“Yes! Please, please, please!”  
“Are you insane?”  
“FOR FUCK´S SAKE, THIS PIECE OF SHIT ALMOST-”  
You better shut it, Michael, or I may have to unveil some of your secrets as well.  
“My name isn´t Michael! You think you´re really SMART, but you aren´t! YOU´RE STILL NOTHING BUT A FILTHY BRAT THAT DESERVED TO DIE!”  
His human companions made a step back. “W-what is wrong? Please s-stop screaming at my friend! He didn´t even do anything!”  
“Mike…?”  
Distressed the Guard stepped back. “Fuck you. Fuck you all. Fuck you, fucking marionette, fuck you Jerry for worrying us and fuck you PG, you lying piece of shit. I´ll be gone now.”  
“But what about the nightshift…?”  
“Do it yourself, you cunt!”  
With that he left, growling to himself. They heard him scream at something or someone far down the stairs.  
Jeremy tilted his head. “Poor Mike, I didn´t mean to worry him that much… I´ll bring him cookies tomorrow, maybe that´ll cheer him up. What do you think, sir?”  
“I… I don’t care.” And so he left as well, broken and tired.  
Jeremy gave his partner a questioning look. “Hey, you didn´t say anything to Mike… did you?”  
What could I have said?  
“Don´t know… they sure were upset. I hope it´s better in the morning.”  
For sure. What about the cookies?  
“Yeah, let´s make some!”  
So, Jeremy and Marion spent the evening quite happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stabbing action for Anon the magical, thanks for your suggestion x3 Oh and electric/thunder scars look badass, even though I´d never wish them onto anyone.  
> So, Phoney´s name REVEALED!!11!1! Or rather, this version´s name. I really like the many names people have given to their versions, since I always imagine it being another establishment in another universe… as well as me being generally a little opposed to call the Phone Guy Scott Cawthon, since it feels weird to name a character like the creator of the game.  
> FNAF SIX IS OUT! You all know that, but I want to acknowledge it! °D° (You could tell me what you think about it, I´m curious…)  
> (Oh and since I´m super self-conscious right now, I just wanted to say… if you think a chapter is complete shit, for example makes no sense or is boring, I will not hesitate to completely rewrite it based on your suggestions)  
> Well, no matter, I hope you guys are having a great day! And thanks for reading x3


	14. Bad times, good times, fun times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feast all your eyes on my new machines!  
> Build them to keep me safe from all your dreams!  
> Yours are outdated and obsolete…  
> I have created a plan to end your team!
> 
> Groundbreaking – Don´t hold it against us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, just some banter: The song above is one of my favorite FNAF songs and my favorite Purple Guy song in general! I love the distorted, demented feel of the background “music”, while the singing is in such a simple melody, reminding me of a children´s song…  
> I think it hits the perfect balance between the childish side I like to imagine onto the Purple Guy, as well as showing of the narcissistic nature many serial killer share…  
> Fan-rant over! Enjoy the chapter!

For today, Old Sport had a GREAT idea! At five AM, he would break into the place and tamper with the security, watching whoever the Nightguard was getting chased around for an hour. It would be AWESOME.  
Silently he sneaked towards one of the only places with windows, the bathroom and entered. Usually the animatronics were too focused on getting into the office, so as long as he didn´t made too much noise, there shouldn´t be a problem.  
A minute later a completely different problem showed itself. There was no security guard. No one in the office.  
Okay, fine, nah, watching someone getting stuffed was fine as well. Maybe he would be able to save him and get points for it! Something to use in the future…  
As quickly as possible he sneaked towards the main area. What he saw there was kind of… weird.  
Phone Guy sat crying on a chair, surrounded by the robots who were talking to him and petted his shoulder.  
“Really, don´t sweat about it, I´m sure he will forgive you!”  
“I- I...” His words were constantly interrupted by hiccups. “I didn´t know what else to d-do… w-was that so wrong?! I- I´m just trying to s-safe the l-little I still have left! THERE ISN´T MUCH WORTH LIVING FOR ANYMORE! I- I c-can´t!”  
Bonnie shrugged. “If Mike wants to be such an asshole, you just have to ignore him for a while.”  
Freddy nodded in agreement. “One dead human is better than two dead humans.”  
“B-but maybe Mike is right and I´m j-just terrible! I-if the puppet would have wanted t-to kill Jeremy, c-could we have s-saved him in the m-morning...?!”  
“Nah, the puppet was never one to screw around. He would have eaten you guys alive, if he didn´t had a better plan.”  
Now Old Sport was seriously curious. “Hey, Mr. Phone Man! Why ya crying?”  
“E-employee! What are you doing h-here?! And… I´m… I´m not crying… I d-don´t even have eyes!”  
“Ah, we know each other for too long, I can see right through this lie.”  
At the word lie, the man began bawling again.  
“U-uh… sorry… so, mind filling me in?”  
“It´s… just… Mike hates me…”  
“WHAT?! NO! MY OTP! DON´T DO THAT TO ME!”  
“W-what are you even talking about…?”  
“I HAVE THE SOLUTION! WE´LL KIDNAP HIM! That´s how people usually make up, right?”  
“W-we aren´t l-like you and Dave!”  
“Dave never did that… as far as I remember. But in the stories I´ve read, it works!”  
“NO! I won´t kidnap ANYONE!”  
“K, no prob, I´ll kidnap him MYSELF and YOU save him!”  
“Employee…”  
“I kidnap you together?”  
“Please stop.”  
“Hey, at least give me some feedback! I can´t leave you like this!”  
“I consider suicide, but they refuse to kill me.”  
Freddy snorted. “I didn´t, but Bonnie just HAD to ask him why he didn´t close the door.”  
“He looked pretty down, I was worried!”  
“Well, now we don´t really have the heart to kill him. Or killing anyone honestly. At this rate we will never be freed.”  
Old Sport sat himself next to his boss. “C´mon Phoney, I´m sure one nice talk could fix it!”  
“I pretended as if I didn´t know why Jeremy wasn´t there yesterday, even though I suspected that he took the puppet and died to it.”  
“Wow, that´s pretty fucked.”  
“I´M SORRY, ALRIGHT?!”  
“We´ll get you two back together, I´ll make sure of it!”  
“I… I think I´d rather die. Leave Mike alone.”  
“You can´t just go full suicidal on me! We need you here!”  
“Wait… you hate me, at least a little, right?! Can you kill me?! Rip off my head! Snap my neck! Do SOMETHING!”  
“Woah! Killing isn´t something I do just like that! It´s a PASSION!”  
“Please… just do it for me!”  
“No! Don´t you have wife and kids you should stay alive for?”  
“THEY ARE ALL LIES. MY WHOLE LIFE IS A LIE. I CAN DO NOTHING BUT LIE. END ME.”  
Chica came in, munching on some chips. “Weren´t we at that point like two hours ago?”  
Old Sport winked at her, she winked back. Afterwards they returned to the conversation at hand.  
“You can always change, Phoney! We count on you, you can´t be this much of a crybaby!”  
“I know, I know… it´s just hard finding any motivation to ever stand up again.”  
“If someone can do it, then you! Sweep it under the rug, it´s probably fine!”  
A soft laughter sounded, as the man actually took the time to look at him. “That motto is old as heck! You´ve… been with the franchise for quite some time, I see…”  
“But you knew that, didn´t you? Back to your problem. Are you SURE you don´t want me to get Mike in danger, so you can make it up to him?”  
“… I´d… I´d prefer if you would let me try something normal first.”  
“BUT you aren´t THAT opposed! Give me one word and I´ll take care of it!”  
“Thank you… I guess…”  
“Nah, don´t worry, I love to help!”  
“And kill.”  
The Orange Guy rolled his eyes. “You´d do it too, if you knew you would get away with it.”  
Silence crept into the room, as the Phone Guy slowly became sleepy.  
The others left towards the stage, giving the poor man some rest.  
Intrigued the Dayshift-Guard began to pester the machines. “Hey, why aren´t you all creepy and silent and deadly?”  
“Should we be? Really, after the boss left, we didn´t feel like it.”  
“The boss?”  
“The puppet.”  
“Ah…” For a minute they paused.  
The minute stretched longer.  
What are you supposed to talk about with dead kids? He couldn´t even talk to REAL kids!  
“I´ll be… back? Soon?”  
“Just leave us alone, you orange turd.”  
“Wow. Cutting deep since 1987. See ya!” With that he left, his constant swirling mind already hungering for some sort of entertainment. It was one hell of an addiction.  
Now, he COULD break into Mike´s apartment. If he wanted to destroy the fragile trust that had possible built between them that was.  
Or he could…  
Well…  
As he exited the pizzeria, he took his little girl out if the pocket.  
“Hey, Minireena, I have a question!”  
She giggled and climbed onto his shoulders, letting her legs dangle.  
“Do you still remember where Dave lives? The Purple Guy?”  
Excited she jumped up and started to sign towards a direction. Trusting her senses, he followed her into…  
Quite the nice neighborhood!  
Not where he´d expected a psychopath to live…?  
Neat though!  
As he stepped up the stairs of Minireena´s chosen house, he remembered that he had literally no idea how to get in there. If he just finally learned how to pick those locks.  
At least the door had a bell.  
Which meant…  
RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, RING, RING! BANANA PHONE!  
RING, RING, RING, R-  
It opened to show a scuffled Dave, wearing an old shirt and having bags under the eyes, giving a deadly vibe. His annoyed expression immediately changed to pure bliss as he saw who the unwanted visitor was, because scratch the unwanted!  
“OLD SPORT! YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT MINIREENA´S SPECIAL FEATURE! AND YOU CAME TO VISIT ME!” And just like that he was dragged in and basically thrown against the next wall. “I HAVE SOOO MUCH TO SHOW YOU! FINALLY YOU`RE HERE! FINALLY!”  
Before the Orange Guard could show his own excitement, something attracted his attention. Apparently Dave just got himself a five o´clock snack, nothing too weird, an orange, which was in context a little weird, but… the orange had a huge chunk bitten out of it.  
To iterate: Dave was holding an UNPEELED orange, out of which he had taken a FULL BITE.  
“U-uh… Dave? Are you… angry at me?”  
“What gave you that idea?” Smiling he took another giant bite out of the fruit. “I was actually missing you!”  
“I see…”  
“WHILE YOU`RE HERE! I can finally introduce you to my daughter!”  
“Haha, good one!” They looked each other. “Wait, you´re serious?!”  
“Baby! Come over, I have a visitor for you!”  
“A-and a wife?!”  
“What are you talking about? I don´t need a wife to have a daughter.”  
“B-but… you are male, aren´t you?”  
“Yes? Should I SHOW you?”  
“NO. I just-”  
“Who is it, father?” A cool, calm voice came from behind the door, before opening it. It came from a young girl, somewhere between teenage and child, with two red pigtails, white skin and-  
That wasn´t skin. It was clear, white colored metal.  
The hair still looked eerily real.  
Their eyes met, hers glowing in a bright green.  
The hundreds of small plates shifted around, resembling a surprised expression almost perfect, just to change into one of joy.  
“DAD!” Her voice sounded slightly higher, as she rushed over to Old Sport, hugging him tightly. It might was well-meant, but having a shit-ton of metal thrown against one´s ribcage couldn´t be healthy.  
“E-excuse me?”  
“Baby! Don´t call him that on the first meeting!”  
“But… didn´t you tell me I could call him that?”  
“Well…”  
Orange Guy was feeling slightly overwhelmed. “I didn´t consent to becoming a dad!”  
“That´s why I planned to explain it to you a little… more careful?”  
“Why did you tell her I´m her dad anyway?!”  
“Because… uh…”  
The animatronic named Baby chuckled and showed Purple Guy her tongue, while walking out of the room.  
Her creator growled. “She´s quite something.”  
“I´m still waiting for an explanation!”  
“Follow me, Old Sport. I´ll tell you.”  
After they entered a rather hidden room and climbed down a well-hidden trapdoor, they ended up in an elevator, which activated upon a button press.  
“Ya know, this wasn´t really my home… even though I spent most of my time here. This is Henry´s house and he had done more than a few… “Improvements” to it. You know, to be able to work on his machines… privately. A really secretive guy.”  
It began moving downwards.  
“After his tragic end, I somewhat inherited it. No one else wanted it. So, the surprise I was talking about all the time? You´ve already guessed it, animatronics. BUT, don´t be disappointed! They are VERY special! I might have overhyped it a LITTLE, but I´m still fairly proud of myself.”  
“Didn´t you want to answer my question about me suddenly being a dad?”  
“Okay, Old Sport, listen. I wanted her to become friendlier with me and even an old kid needs a family. So I told her we could be one!”  
“Dave, you´re the worst.”  
“C´mon, it ain´t THAT bad! You will like her! Just like Minireena!”  
“That´s something COMPLETELY different!”  
“I´ll make it up to you… how about you get to know your little girl´s big sister?”  
“Minireena´s?”  
The elevator finally stopped and opened to a vent they quickly crawled through, ending in a circular room with two large windows on the left and right side.  
“To the left! I bet she will be ecstatic to see her lost little sibling again!”  
“What is this place?”  
“Henry´s old workshop!”  
Said place was lightened in a soft blue tint and a hauntingly beautiful melody echoed from everywhere at once. A woman… no, an animatronic was dancing on the stage, a ballerina, clothed in a glittering tutu and tiara. Her blue hair was held out of her face by an almost strict bun. Her eyes were closed, but she was smiling.  
“Ballora! I have a visitor!”  
She shortly stopped and bowed. “And who that might be?”  
“It´s Old Sport!”  
“Ah… the famous! I assume my little girl is with you?”  
The Minireena laughed and escaped out of Old Sport´s pocket, to run over and dance with her. They twirled and posed for a moment, afterwards they gracefully bowed.  
“It´s heartwarming to see your happiness, dear child. Have you yet received a name?” Expectantly she turned towards the slightly cowed Orange Guy. She wasn´t someone he wanted to mess with.  
“U-uh… I didn´t know s-she wanted a name… h-how about Alice?”  
The girl, who was hanging from her “sister´s” hair, giggled and swayed back and forth, with no obvious complaints. Ballora didn´t laugh herself, but her features softened.  
“What a wonderful name. Now, how may I help you?”  
Dave interrupted and plucked the newly named Alice from the larger animatronic. “We just wanted to say hi. Oh, before we get going, keep an eye on the lights, would you? Keep them out as much as possible, or we will be suspicious.”  
“I understand. Enjoy your day.”  
They left towards the right side now.  
“Hey Dave, what did you do to them?”  
“Electroshocks, despair and kindness, to say it shortly. It´s not like I wanted to hurt them and most young people can understand that.”  
“Young people?”  
“They are older than my usual targets. Children´s souls can easily connect to metal, teens are a bit weird and adults need a strong sense of urgency while dying for that.”  
“… How do you know that?”  
The Purple Guy stopped dead in his tracks. “Old Sport. Do you... you never met Henry.”  
“And?”  
“You… I found a box, which belonged to him.”  
A weird sensation crawled up his arms, as he listened to Dave´s words. “What was inside?”  
“Not much, but… too much!” More and more frantic the murderer clenched his fists. “There… Old Sport, it was… a book, it wasn´t any book, Old Sport, it was… it was terrifying! I´m not someone who cares about those useless categories like good and evil, Old Sport, but what… in there, there was a machine, a thing that can… it can erase! Old Sport, IT CAN ERASE. Henry… he went too far that time, I really… Old Sport, I don´t even want to touch it… I knew about his research, Old Sport, I never minded, but… Old Sport, can you imagine…”  
Ah. The jumble he had read on the computer. Well, finally someone told him about the box.  
“Calm down! How about you just show it to me?”  
“NO! Not… not now. I would like to destroy it, but...”  
“You´re… scared?”  
“You never met Henry. You wouldn´t understand. If Henry wanted something, it would happen.”  
“C´mon, this is exaggeration, as if he was something supernatural.”  
“Old Sport, let´s… let´s visit the last two children. I´ll show you the box… soon. Please. I still have to process myself what´s in there.”  
“Drama-Queen.”  
Smiling weakly at him, he continued walking towards the presumably last room. Out of it were already voice to be heard.  
“BONBON! Should we tell Foxy another J-joke?!”  
“Yes! Tell him the one about the cannibal!”  
“Aha! The b-best one!”  
As they finally got in, they saw a white and pink Freddy talking to his Bonnie glove puppet, while a similar colored Foxy was jumping around them, screeching excitedly.  
“I had to steal two polar bears, two snow rabbits and four polar foxes for that fur!”  
“Explains why they look so huggable!”  
Alice laughed and got the attention of the two (three?) machines. “Who are these n-new friends?!”  
“This is Old Sport!” Proudly Dave shoved him a few steps forward. The animatronic´s eyes lit up brightly.  
“OOOH! THE OLD SPORT?! BONBON, IT`S O-OLD SPORT! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?”  
The puppet answered in a total different tone. “That´s great! Hello, Old Sport! It´s so nice to finally meet you!”  
Foxy only showed all of his teeth and made some noises, jumping up and down.  
“Y-you´re right Foxy! Let´s give the big guy a hug!”  
“But be careful!” Bonbon chimed in. “You could break his spine and that would be BAAAAD!”  
Old Sport snuggled into the soft fur and grinned from ear to ear. “Honestly, Bonbon that would be worth it! You´re so soft!”  
The small bunny hid his face out of flattery, while Freddy gave his weird pitched laughter. “Ah, isn´t he nice Bonbon? Just as- just as- just as we were told!”  
Foxy shoved his whole snout under Old Sport´s arms, begging in his animal-ish way for some petting as well. Not that he minded, instantly he began ruffle through the impossibly soft fur.  
“Why doesn´t he talk?”  
“To trigger more useless gender-wars about a robot.”  
“I love them, I want ten of them and I want them now!”  
“Good you like them! After all I expect you to live with us soon enough!”  
“Yeah, great, I- wait. Since when?”  
“Soon enough I said!”  
“We… talk about that later. What´s even the time?”  
“About six. Why you ask?”  
“AH RIGHT! DID YOU KNOW! MIKE AND PHONEY BROKE UP!”  
“What? They were together in the first place?”  
“NO! BUT THEY STILL MANAGED TO BREAK UP! WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!”  
“How about we don´t discuss that in front of the animatronics? Come, let´s go and have breakfast, you can tell me ALL about it.”  
In a few minutes they managed to settle down in the barren living room with some snacks.  
“Alright Old Sport. What´s your deal? Why even care about what the others are up to? And what do you think of my animatronics?”  
“Well, if Phoney-”  
“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MY ANIMATRONICS, OLD SPORT?”  
“They´re beautiful! Impressive! I assume they are basically fully human?”  
“Yes~! I made them see the joy of creation!”  
“And you used real fur?”  
“And real hair!”  
“So, how old were they before you killed them?”  
“Between eleven and fourteen. I wanted some intelligent beings for my masterpiece!”  
“And those faceplates?”  
“You wouldn´t BELIEVE how much time that took! Around three hundred of them, for ALL of them! And for Foxy it was even worse because of the snout… It gives them access to every possible human expression! They have a few other nice features as well! Your Minireena, Alice, is able to track me down, in case we ever get separated again. The others have voice mimicking, luring, can release chloroform and have a storage tank~”  
“Children kidnapping… children.”  
“YES.”  
“Why?”  
“Because… well, I have to keep us safe, don´t I?” Nervously he laughed, tugging on his hair.  
Fascinated Old Sport watched him. It was unusual for Dave to be this insecure and… weird. You could blame it on the lack of sleep, but it felt as if there was something more to it.  
“Safe? From what?”  
“From getting lonely! We wouldn´t want our lost boys getting unhappy…”  
“Lost boys?”  
Now the Purple Guy was laughing again, shaking his head. “Henry always called them like that. Even he had some sentiment inside of him, even if he denied it at every turn.”  
“Sounds like a freak.”  
“Aren´t we all?” A quiet knocking interrupted them. “Come in, Baby!”  
The girl sneaked in and sat herself next to her creator. “I hope you don´t mind me here.”  
“How could we!” Friendly Dave stroked her over the hair and turned back to Old Sport. “Actually she´s the only one who wants to spend time up here. Ballora and Foxy prefer the space they have down there and Funtime Freddy is too loud to walk around in the flat.”  
“He just has to scream all the time and he is so easily excitable… but that is his personality and we love him for who he is. The one time he accompanied me here, we had to eliminate two witnesses and a dog.”  
“To be honest, I shouldn´t have melted two souls together. His sock puppet, Bonbon, is his younger brother. Quiet the surprise that the younger one took it better. I think I MIGHT have driven the older one insane. But at least he still listens to his younger sibling.”  
“Father simply has no common sense.”  
Old Sport began grinning. “Tell me about it! I have to work with him EVERY DAY! And he breaks into my home whenever he feels like it!”  
“Ah, but with you, that is something different.”  
“DAVE! BABY IS A HYPOCRITE!”  
“Old Sport, she´s right! You could break into here whenever you want!”  
Frustrated the Orange Guard crossed his arms. “You know I don´t know how to pick locks…”  
“Your problem! Now we can move on to whatever is with Phoney.”  
“Oh gracious good Dave, how thankful I am!”  
He only rested his face onto his hands and smiled eagerly at him, forcing Old Sport to continue.  
“Okay, okay… Phoney lied to Mike-”  
“Big surprise, never would have seen that coming.”  
“And now the Phone is completely suicidal.”  
“Wow. That IS a surprise.”  
“And who knows how Mike is doing… now, NEXT to the fact that I´m unhealthily invested into a relationship that isn´t mine and not even REAL, a Phone Guy who has nothing to lose is dangerous.”  
“You… you´re actually right.”  
“Hey! I´m not incompetent!”  
“Right, right. What are you proposing we do? Heh, never expected to be the one saying that line…”  
A bit flattered Old Sport scratched his neck. “I… uh, I didn´t think that far. Phoney said he would try it himself first.”  
“And you believed him.”  
“If shit goes down we can still can kill them...!”  
“I guess…?”  
Baby had listened carefully, a somewhat sarcastic smile on her face. “If I understand correctly, you are talking about a liar, who is surprised about his companion abandoning him over that and now poses a danger to everyone? How… despicable.”  
“Wow, Baby, calm down! He is built that way.” Orange Guy felt obliged to play the devil´s advocate. “And at least he isn´t a child murdering lunatic.”  
“HEY!”  
They ignored Dave in favor of continuing arguing. “It is arguable how insane father really is. However, out of his destruction, creation is birthed. Immortality is a gift the joy of creation is able to provide, only demanding the end of the previous existence so the new one may be free of previous struggle and pain. Killing yourself or harming another for the selfish reason of getting rid of your own pain is disgusting and pointless.”  
“Geez, you sure like to monologue.”  
“Please excuse that.”  
“How old are you?”  
“… I´m a machine, silly. I don´t have an age…”  
Sympathetic Old Sport smiled at her. “I know. I don´t have an age either.”  
“GREAT, WE´RE ALL AGELESS ZOMBIES! Now, Old Sport, how about we leave Alice and Baby here and…” Dave words trailed off, as if he forgot what he was going to say and instead took another orange. “Never mind.”  
“Aw, sorry! Let´s go to Freddy´s. Alice, want to come along, or would you rather play a bit with you friends?” The Minireena was elegantly dancing around Baby´s fingers, ignoring him completely. “That settles it, I guess?”  
Swiftly Old Sport walked towards the door, Dave following him on his heels.  
They entered the dark street, ice was covering the sidewalks. Lone street lights illuminated the ground, in a desperate attempted to fight the hungry shadows.  
A few lost snowflakes twirled around, seemingly not realizing how lonely they were. Or maybe they wanted it to be this way.  
“Old Sport, be honest with me. Do you like them?”  
Somewhat confused he raised an eyebrow. “Of course I do! I told you that not even ten minutes ago!”  
Dave looked down at his feet. “Yes… let me ask it different: Would you be able to stay with them? Forever?”  
“Would you get rid of them if I said no?”  
“In a heartbeat.”  
Now actually shocked, Old Sport paused. “Wow, after you worked so hard on them?”  
“If you wouldn´t like them, I haven´t worked hard enough.”  
Worrying, he softly grabbed his friends arm. “Dave… do you feel alright?”  
“No. It´s that time again. You would expect insects to freeze in this weather…” They walked side by side, the presumably younger one sneaking glance at his partner, who took some time until he reopened his mouth. “Old Sport, I have to kill again. Will you help me?”  
Frowning deeply irritated the guy answered. “Why are you even asking?! Naturally I´m helping you!”  
Finally the Purple Guy´s typical smile returned. “You don´t even know who I´m going to kill.”  
“And?”  
“I´m just happy I met you.”  
The sincerity or his words surprised Old Sport once more. “Me too!”  
“Once I find the person to kill, I want you to kidnap them, to test out some of the features of my machines.”  
“No problem, I´ll do that. Should I bring them to your home?”  
“Yes, but… don´t let them touch the ground, okay? It´s kinda disgusting to clean it all up.” All of a sudden he stopped dead in his tracks, spotting a fairly normal appearing guy in the distance. “That´s the one. Get him.”  
“Consider it done~” Shortly the Orange Guy kneeled down to pick up a stone of considerable weight.  
“Careful, Old Sport, it´s hard to use the right amount of force… if you fuck up and kill him, I´ll never ask you to do that again.”  
“Shush, you act like this is my first improvised kidnapping!” With that he was gone, a pretending to be helplessly drunk, walking past the man, who only gave him a short disinterested glance.  
Or not, the termites swarming over his face obscured the view on his face.  
In a split-second the Orange Guy turned and gave a quick blow over the head, making him collapse on the ground.  
No one was around yet. His friend gave him a thumbs-up and shouldered the unconscious body, changing from the sidewalk to the backyards, avoiding potential attention.  
Dave had to admit he was impressed. Somehow he always assumed that the guy was a fairly decent human being before they met, always forgetting about the multiple crimes the Guard had committed, or the way he treated children on a regular bases.  
Shortly he checked his watch. They had a few hours until Freddy´s opened, but since it wasn´t a chemical induced faint, it was hard to guess how long it would take for the victim to wake up again.  
Whatever. If they were late, they would be late. 

Chance wanted it that another employee was awake and considering being late.  
Or not coming at all.  
Good thing he had some children to talk sense into him. Especially Gary had taken the lead once more, for some reason desperate to keep the peace.  
“Please, Mike! Where is the big deal?!”  
“I just don´t like being lied to!”  
“He lied to you all the time! About the animatronics being “nothing to worry about”?! And he endangered Jeremy as soon as he hired him!”  
“But I thought that had changed! WE WERE FRIENDS. FRIENDS DON´T LIE!”  
“Were? Christ, slow down! You can´t end a friendship like that!”  
“WELL, FUCK YOU! I CAN!”  
“He didn´t technically lied to you, he just didn´t tell you the whole truth!”  
“FUCK YOUR TECHNICALLY! THAT´S BASICALLY THE SAME!”  
“What about you? You never told Phone Guy about us! Did you lie to him?”  
“YOU WEREN´T A FUCKING DANGER TO ANYONE!”  
“Excuse me?! What about Suzy´s fit at the ball pit?!”  
Hissing Mike sat down onto his bed, clawing into his temples. “It´s… it´s different!”  
“He wanted to protect you.”  
“I DON´T NEED ANY FUCKING PROTECTION!”  
“Are you sure about that? You´re quite… rash.”  
“I SURVIVED MORE SHIT THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE! FUCK EVERYTHING!”  
“Please… you´re being petty. Tell me, what´s the real problem?”  
“… It´s…” Mike slowly sunk into himself. “He sat there. He spend the whole day KNOWING what he did. But he talked to me like always. For the morning he´s excused, after all Vincent did something to him, but afterwards… he just came over, casually talking about his “feels”, not even SOUNDING guilty! Someone this self-centered, this cold-blooded… how could I trust him?!”  
“Are you sure he´s all that cold-blooded? Maybe guilt was the thing driving him to ensure you don´t hate him? And didn´t he stutter like a maniac and freaked out when he found about the empty box? Maybe you should have digged a little deeper?”  
“… So you´re blaming me.”  
“No. Not at all. But maybe you should give him another chance. Under your conditions.”  
A cynical smile crept on Mike´s face. “And he even told me he wasn´t trustworthy. I´m such a fucking idiot.”  
“He tries to be honest with you! Freddy´s… you know, Freddy´s does it´s best to kill that part of you and Phone Guy was now so long with the franchise, he surely made some bad experiences with honesty… trust is hard to obtain and even harder to keep, when you are forced to cover up so many bad things.”  
The human stayed silent.  
“And in the end, he told you, didn´t he? Not even the end, he told you before, dropping the façade in hopes of keeping you safe.”  
“Sweep it under the rug, it´s probably fine.”  
“Huh?”  
“Sorry, I was thinking. That´s what Freddy´s is, right? All fun and games, until someone DIES. And even IF they die, as long as no one notices, no one cares.”  
Now it was the ghost´s turn to keep his mouth shut.  
“Yeah, what´s up with that?! Why are we doing that?! Why didn´t I go to the police? I have a literal child murderer as co-worker! I WAS ALMOST KILLED. WHAT AM I DOING HERE?!”  
“You have to go back.”  
“I´ll always do.” With a dull expression he stood up and reached for his bag. “There´s little else left for me anyway.”  
Unhappy Gary followed him around. “Mike…”  
“Why do I ask myself these questions? So what if I get killed. So what if my co-worker could kill us all. When I think about it like that, I could probably rather prevent him killing someone by keeping an eye on him, seeing as they can bribe the police with coke. Shit, nothing makes sense. I feel like I´m running in a circle. This has to stop.”  
Not even caring about the time, Mike left his flat and walked to work.  
Make a list.  
Three things you want to keep, three things you can let go.  
As if it matters.  
We all die in the end.  
To his surprise the entrance was unlocked. His boss slept on one of the tables in the main area, slammed over.  
The animatronics were whispering among each other on top of the stage.  
Mechanical liars.  
They all lie down here!  
And one day…  
He would lie too.  
Blaming everyone, without a care in the world.  
This wouldn´t get any better.  
Struck with a sudden sentiment, he picked up the man and carried him into the office, adjusting the back of the chair and even found some sort of blanket to cover him with. It was one of those weird things fire fighters always used…  
But considering how many tragedies happened here, it wasn´t that big of a stretch.  
In silence he stared at PG.  
This was the second time he did this for him.  
Wondering if time was maybe in an endless cycle, he asked himself if he would soon sit in PG´s bedroom again, scarred, tired and angry.  
Restless he stood back up, wandering the establishment. Whispers, not even whispers, rather the thoughts of whisper, swirled around his hazy mind.  
Pills. Soon enough he needed to restock his pills.  
…  
He should be careful. Those things could have side effects if used too much. Or at least that was what he was told.  
If his memory didn´t start to betray him as well.  
Gary and Suzy followed him around, quietly discussion something. A thought scraped at the back of his mind.  
“Why don´t you play with the others anymore?”  
“They… are annoying!” Toy-Foxy pouted.  
“We can´t really… understand them anymore…” Toy-Freddy sighed.  
“Wow, sucks to be you. Go and don´t kill anyone, I have work to do.” Waiting until they vanished around a corner, before he grabbed the bit of basswood and a knife he had… “Borrowed” and began today´s work.  
For a start, he´d try it for three hours. 

Three hours.  
Dave and Old Sport had made bets about how long it would take for the infested thing to wake up again.  
Well, Old Sport was right, he knew this kind of injuries after all.  
They stood inside of the circular room, watching through the window as the stranger slowly raised from the ground, groaning. The noises were of course slightly obscured by the glass and music, but it was still understandable what the man inside was saying.  
“What… what the fuck?!” He turned around, making Dave shiver, as worms began to scatter in the ground. “LET ME OUT OF HERE!”  
Ballora descended from her stage, dancing over. “And who do you may be?”  
“I- I…” Clearly afraid, he made a few steps back. “I am Mark…”  
The machine smiled and tilted her head to the side. “Good day Mark.”  
“D-do you know a way out of here?”  
Dave prayed that he wouldn´t have to reprogram Ballora again. She was such a promising child…  
“Indeed.” A clicking sounded and a few Minireenas jumped out, giggling, chasing each other and climbing onto the confused man. “Oh dear… could you catch them for me? They are so easily excited by strangers… this is embarrassing…”  
“… Okay…?”  
Clearly uncomfortable, but still obedient, the man began picking them up one by one, glancing around again, probably expecting something dangerous attack him at any second in this confusing, dreamlike situation. This made Purple Guy nod in silent approval, since Ballora expertly averted most of the suspicion away from herself.  
Finally he caught the fourth animatronic and handed it over to the woman, who grabbed his hands, smiling wider.  
“Thank you a lot, kind sir.” In a jarring twist all of her faceplates opened, turning what before was her face into a metal void, the rows of tiny, metal, razor-sharp plates began to spin quickly, as she lowered herself as if to kiss him.  
His panicked screams were quickly replaced by the sound of shredding flesh and metal grinding bone. The shuddering and twitching body was sucked upwards, into the still shining vortex, blood splattered everywhere, onto her, onto the ground, but the blades stayed clean through the power of centrifugal force. With a flump the now headless body fell over.  
The silence after she stopped made Old Sport´s skin crawl… in a good way.  
Ballora made a slight bow towards her audience and began playing her music again, dancing away.  
For Dave none of this mattered. All that mattered were the miniscule movement around the corpses stump. Something tried to free itself.  
But what was it?  
They crawled out, tens, hundreds, spreading their wings and flew away.  
Butterflies.  
“It worked… OLD SPORT, IT WORKED!” He picked his friend up and swirled him around, laughing maniacally out of joy. “THEY WORK, THEY WORK! I DID IT, OLD SPORT, I BUILD THEM PERFECTLY!”  
The eyes of the Orange Guy were almost invisible in the darkness. “You have truly improved. I am proud of you.”  
His weird tone made Dave shortly stop. “How do you know if I improved?”  
“Oh, well, you looked like you felt as if you improved, so I guessed…?” Sheepishly Old Sport grinned, the glowing dots back to full energy. “That was beautiful as HECK! Did you plan that?!”  
“Yes, of course! Came up with that one all by myself!” Brimming out of pride and satisfaction, he stood even taller than usual.  
Teasingly Old Sport pulled on his hair. “I bet you stole this out of a movie.”  
“How can you think something like that?! I´m fucking creative!”  
“Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that!”  
“How about that we go to work, instead of arguing all day. I don´t want Phoney getting the dogs to find us.”  
“And now you´re distracting~” With a wink the younger Guard escaped out of the house, bickering with him until they entered the facility.  
To no one´s surprise they were the last ones to arrive. Mike was fiddling with something in a dark corner, sitting on a chair, Jeremy was rushing around, bringing cake and pizza, all while carrying a fairly big backpack around.  
The Phone Guy was looming close to Mike, swaying back and forth, as undetermined as ever.  
Yet, before Old Sport turned into the savior he was always destined to be, his boss made a fierce step forward, getting nothing but a raised eyebrow from his employee.  
“E-employee? I have to talk to you. Now.”  
“Shove a pole up your ass.”  
“Right NOW.”  
“Oh fuck, look who grew a spine!” Mike pocketed whatever he was working on and followed him into the office.  
When they were alone, Mike closed the heavy steel doors. “Here are my conditions: First, no more secrets.”  
“Oh, I actually just wanted to say you´re fired.”  
“WHAT THE LIVING FUCK?!”  
The Phone began to laugh. “Worth it.”  
“FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”  
“A reanimated corpse, designed to fulfill a certain role? First condition accepted.”  
“I´m reconsidering right now.”  
“Mike, you have to take my perspective for once! My job is to keep as many people here safe as possible!”  
“I DON´T HAVE TO DO SHIT!”  
“Please Mike. I´m sorry for the joke. I really needed to talk with you.”  
“So you fucking do? Alright, let me hear it.”  
“No more excuses. I f- hecked up.”  
“Fucked up.”  
“Hecked up.”  
“FUCKED up.”  
“For Christ’s sake, is this really the point you want to discuss?”  
Mike didn´t answer, but kept his arms crossed.  
“Back to the beginning… I…” He paused, insecure. “I really can´t tell you anything. I promise to not lie to you, not ever again… and because of that I have to say that I don´t regret trying to keep you safe. I´ve seen MANY people die here. Of course none of them as odd as Jeremy, but…” Slowly he shook his head. “If I investigate things like missing employees by myself, I will be put on the watch list.”  
“Watch list?”  
“Before… we go on… give me your two other conditions.”  
“Fucking hell… condition number two is you growing a pair of balls and the third is-” Suddenly Mike broke off, his eyes widening as if he saw something disturbing. The following words sounded as if they came from far away. “… The red contract.”  
Everything inside of the Phone Guy froze. “No. Never.”  
“I want it.”  
“D-do you even know what t-this thing means?! YOU WILL BE HELD HOSTAGE! YOU WILL BECOME PART OF THE BUILDING! OF THE FRANCHISE! YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO!”  
“But I… I need it.” Mike was changing position, as if trying to listen to something far away. “It will… give me… benefits…”  
“What are you TALKING about?! I SAID NO!”  
“You have to. Now that I said I want it, your jobs forces you.”  
“It´s as if you´re telling me that I´m supposed to cannibalize your dead body!”  
“Well, if it would be the only option…”  
“MIKE!”  
“Hand it over. You signed it too, didn´t you? If we´re going to be partners, I will sign it. I´m not a kid, I can make my own decisions. Even if they are stupid ones, they at least will be mine.”  
“… Equals. I will give you one more chance. If you sign this contract, you´ll never leave this place, except in a body bag.”  
“No one leaves Freddy´s alive. Some of us just forget to stop moving.”  
Silent Phone Guy handed him the contract. It was a deep shade of red, the letters “Contract” were printed in gold.  
“Holy shit that looks expensive…”  
“We have a limited amount of these. Not even I know what´s up with this. All I know is that they are OLD.”  
Without any hesitation Mike put his signature under it.  
“I thought you hated it here…”  
“I do. But I have to stay here. I can´t explain it, okay? While we´re at explanations, you have a lot to account for.”  
“I would actually like to ask some questions myself.”  
“PH0NEY! GET OUT HERE!”  
“Shoot! We… we´ll meet soon, okay? At my place on a weekend and then we will answer each other’s questions.” In a hurry the Phone-headed man unsealed the office, letting every other Guard of the building inside.  
“DAAAAAAD! ARE WE GONNA SPEND CHRISTMAS TOGETHER?!”  
“Yes, Mr. Phone Guy, is there a shift on Christmas?”  
“I´m just here because my kidden´ strangle 2.0 is here.”  
They swarmed around the Boss, who shook his head. “What is going on in your sick, twisted minds?! Where do you think we ARE? You´re legally obliged to spend holidays at Freddy´s! You´re actually obliged to spend every day at Freddy´s.”  
In quiet the weird turn Jeremy began to jump up and down. “Oh no, that´s horrible!” Glowing with joy he fist-pumped. “What am I going to tell my parents?! They´re going to be SO disappointed! Oh well, I don´t really have a choice!” With a smile almost wider than the face it was on, the boy hugged his boss tightly. “Thank you Mr. Phone Guy! You can of course count on me!”  
And… he was gone. They all exchanged a glance, for the first time equally confused.  
“Jeremy… is pretty weird himself…” Phone Guy furrowed his brows.  
Mike shrugged.  
Old Sport had moved on. “PHONEY! CAN WE DECORATE FOR CHRISTMAS?!”  
“Uhm… yes…?”  
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! LET´S GO DAVE!”  
“EMPLOYEES! NO DEPICTION OF CHRISTMAS DEMONS! NO DISTURBING IMAGES! NOTHING OUT OF HUMAN BONES! NO PORN! NO LIVING BEINGS AS ORNAMENTS!”  
Mike raised an eyebrow. “Human bones?”  
Almost sarcastically PG gave him a thumbs-up. “Welcome to the Family.”  
“I regret. I´ll check up on them.” Accepting of his fate, the Guard followed them outside, watching them wrapping almost everything, including dishes and customers in giftwrap.  
The thing actually catching his attention in the end was Jeremy kneeling behind the machines, working on something and he decided to ask instead of stalk.  
“Jeremy, what are you doing?”  
“Helping the animatronics?”  
“Could you… not? Lately they´re acting pretty nice at night, I´d like to keep it that way.”  
“Nice…?”  
“You know, they stopped trying to kill me.”  
Jeremy lowered the screwdriver, confused. “That´s… good!”  
“Yeah. Whatever you´re doing, try to keep it that way.”  
“I´ll do my best!” The brown-haired boy watched his friend leave and took a look at the screw next to his knee. Marion´s voice sounded worried.  
Jeremy. While, of course, Mike probably is not lying, we have to assume that their child-like mind could change at any minute! Inserting the screws and creating the shortcut is safer than leaving it up to chance.  
“I know! Hey, Marion, I have a question!”  
… What is it?  
“How long have you been… here?”  
Since the beginning.  
Jeremy smiled to himself and continued to work on the machine. “That must have been a long time…”  
It was.  
“I´m sorry, did I make you sad? We can change topic! Actually, I have a great idea! How about we do some charity work on Christmas.”  
… what?  
“It will be great! We can visit sick children and give them gifts!”  
Well, I… there´s nothing wrong with that, I guess…  
The way the Marionette talked, made it clear that he was overwhelmed. Probably not used to be asked to show himself to anyone. After a moment he continued.  
But don´t you think they´ll be… scared?  
“What?! Why?! They will be so happy to see you! How could they be scared? You´re adorable!”  
Jeremy… you… fine. But I think the Phone Man has to give his permission first.  
“Well, we have a few days to figure that out! I´m happy you´re willing to do that!”  
Friendly smiles were a rare resource. The puppet soaked it all in.  
Afterlife wasn´t all that bad. For now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHRISTMAS IS LITERALLY NEXT WEEK! ARE YOU EXCITED?!  
> I would love to publish a little one-shot for you guys, as a special token of my appreciation/”gift” (A Thank to every commenter!), but I have no real idea what you´d like to see…  
> I mean, do you want more Dave/Old Sport?  
> In a more “canon” scenario? EXAMPLE: On the soapy ending v2, since Dave and Old Sport are in prison together (If you never noticed, he´s in the cell down left corner), in a similar vain to “Thirty years and still the same”  
> In a balls to the wall, bullshit scenario? EXAMPLE: Old Sport decides to open his own Freddy´s? And Dave´s continuously works on getting in? Even though I probably wouldn´t be able to keep that to a one-shot. (Yeah, I think FNAF 6 is hilarious… except of course the lore of it, which I would mercilessly slaughter, like all other canon I find.)  
> Or would you like something completely different? Something that connects to this story in any way and highlights something I only briefly mentioned/you want me to go deeper into?  
> One of the other shippings?!  
> If that´s the case you´d need to tell me what exactly though… ^^”  
> I hope I don´t appear arrogant with this question, as if I think you guys are amazed by what I do and can´t think of anything better than me writing something. I know my stuff isn´t anything special, but since I think I can make you at least a little happy, I´d love try my best for you! (But if no one cares, I´ll just do nothing and be lazy)  
> If someone has an idea, I´d like to hear it! :3 Have a nice day and enjoy your holidays!


	15. CHRISTMAS REQUESTS!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living with a monstrous animatronic puppet, which is possessed by a child that was driven insane by his desire for revenge? Not all that bad!  
> Setting a hospital on fire, because said puppet hates spiders?  
> Well... as long as no one finds out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE TWO REQUEST ARE OUT NOW! The one for you, dear “Call me what whatever” is called “A series of stupid ideas and (mis)fortune, hosted by an Orange Guy” (Yes I´m bad at titles, if you haven´t noticed, I would appreciate better ideas).  
> THIS IS A SKIPPABLE CHAPTER FOCUSING SOLEY ON JEREMY AND THE PUPPET. It´s still part of the story though, just with more character and less “P L O T”. It´s also not as sugary as I first expected myself.  
> So… uh… okay. Listen, dear Anon. I wasn´t really sure what you wanted, since I panicked…  
> This is what I came up with, I hope it´s at least somewhat what you wanted. IF NOT I WILL WRITE SOMETHING ELSE FOR YOU, RELEASING IT ON NEW YEARS.

Inside of the box it was always hot, meltingly so. The heat was biting through his wires, making him whimper in discomfort. It wasn´t a good kind of discomfort, where you knew it soon would be over and it was worse than real pain, since real pain would tell him that he was still alive.  
“Get him out William. We will see how my new theory applies.”  
“Man, this is… really messed up.”  
“Your attempts at moralizing the situation are appreciated and from now on forbidden.”  
“No! It wasn´t meant to be critic, I just thought… you know, he´s already dead and all…”  
“William. Please.”  
“Okay, okay, sorry, I´m on it. You know you can count on me.”  
Hands grabbing his torn body, clutching into his fragile shell, raising him into hell again, away from the almost merciful emptiness he experienced while inside the darkness.  
“Put these on his forehead and chest. We will start at eighty.”  
If he could have moved he would rip their arms off, tearing through their flesh, annihilating them in an instant. But he couldn´t.  
If he could cry out, he would have begged for death. He would say that he was sorry, that he would never do it again, no matter what he did wrong. Or at least he could taunt them, hurt them, promising them death and pain, pain like he experienced.  
Mercy wasn´t an option for them.  
He couldn´t and wouldn´t leave until they were gone, he would-  
“Ready, set, go!”  
Pain shook his body.  
Please, please stop, it hurts so much, dying, please let it be the end!  
“Write it down. We will go straight to hundred.”  
Pain. His thoughts were now jumbled.  
“One hundred and ten.”  
PAIN.  
“One hundred and twenty.”  
P A I N.  
“One hunded and-” 

The marionette woke up screaming, feeling sweaty and ready to cry, despite both of those things not being a real option anymore. It had been a long time.  
Quietly he rose from the little space in the corner he had occupied. Surrounded by plushies, he had hoped to make him feel safe, but the lack of music was only painfully amplified by the soft companions.  
Hopefully he hadn´t-  
“Marion…?” Rubbing his eyes, Jeremy stepped in, his oversized pajama hanging off his body comically… the teddy the guy was holding was only making things worse. “You screamed… did something happen…?”  
No, I… I thought…  
The brown-haired boy sat down next to him, hugging him tightly. “It´s okay. What did you dream?”  
He felt that he was crying, despite nothing coming out. This was the third time they were in this situation in a row. Lately his dreams had gotten worse and worse.  
I… it was… I don´t want to talk about it.  
Softly Jeremy petted him. “That´s fine too.” And with that the machine was picked up, but this time gently, carefully, and carried towards the bedroom. He was tugged into bed, with Jeremy snuggling right next to him.  
“Do you want me to read for you? Or sing something?”  
No…  
“You don´t have to be ashamed if you want that!”  
I don´t want to sleep anymore.  
Worrying the human took his claws, softly squeezing them. “I know that feeling.”  
They sat together in the darkness, Jeremy slowly getting sleepy again. “Are you excited for today? It´s your time to shine for the kids!”  
I´m somewhat terrified. What should we do if they… don´t feel comfortable around me?  
“There is no way that could happen!”  
Jeremy´s smile was so sincere that the puppet couldn´t help but smile a little as well. He watched his companion slowly drifting off to sleep again. 

Hours later, Jeremy finally yawned and stretched himself, surprised as his friend wasn´t next to him. Trying not to be scared, he checked around the flat. “Marion? Marion, where are you? Are you alright?”  
As he entered the kitchen, the battlefield that greeted him was astounding. There were ingredients all over the floor, eggs and flour covering every surface. A distressed puppet, also covered in flour, was clutching his head, panicking. Hearing laughter behind him, the animatronic screeched shocked.  
J-jeremy, we… uh…  
He looked around, between guilty and helpless.  
…are out of bread.  
“You´re so silly… what were you planning to do?”  
Pancakes…?  
“For me?”  
Of course not, I made them for the fifty other people living here.  
Embarrassed Marion picked up the empty boxes surrounding him and threw them in the trash. His sarcastic response made it only worse, didn´t it?  
I miss my thumbs.  
“Yeah, they are pretty useful! I once seen a documentary about thumbs!”  
That´s… sad.  
“Hey, at least I´ve learned a lot!” Jeremy was almost glowing as he heard his friend laugh. It was almost as rare as Mike´s and at least double as sweet. Mike had the bad habit of laughing at people instead of with them.  
Marion´s laugh was sweet and shy, obviously not meant to, but slipping out anyway. The way he was always hiding his face, or at least his mouth just sealed the deal on making Jeremy craving to get him to laugh.  
I admire you. Maybe one day, I also could be so knowledgeable about thumbs.  
“I could teach you! First fact about thumbs! They are most likely the most important reason we even managed to evolve this far!”  
The machine placed itself on top of the refrigerator, the only clean place left and listened between amused and actually interested, while the young man worked on getting the place clean again. After a while the Puppet began again with trying to make something edible for his human companion. This time it was more successful as he followed Jeremy´s instructions.  
Not even ten minutes later they sat down on the kitchen table, steaming hot pancakes, drowned in syrup in front of them. Jeremy took a deep breath, just taking the smell in.  
“Ah… I love Freddy´s, but I love staying home with you just as much! I love being alive!”  
This boy was a real morning person. And a real pancake person. And a real good spirit all in all. Hungry he was chomping down on his overly sugary breakfast as a little bit of maple syrup dropped over his chin.  
Affectionate Marionette watched Jeremy getting more and more excited over every bite. In only five minutes all of them were decimated and Jeremy sighed happy.  
“Nothing better than sweets for breakfast! Thank you, Marion!”  
I basically did nothing.  
“No, you made them for me! I could taste your love in every bite!”  
Stop… Stop saying such weird things…  
“Weird?” Chuckling he watched the giant figure trying to hide away in itself out of awkwardness. “Okay, fine, let´s talk about our plan! I got a Santa beard and hat! Do you want to wear it?”  
Sounds okay…?  
“YES!” Satisfied Jeremy fist-pumped and twirled around. “You´ll look lovely! I made it myself!”  
You can sew?  
“My sister taught me! Here, let me get it, in case it needs some improvements…” Proud the boy dressed him up, carefully to not slip the hat over his eyes. “It doesn´t scratch, does it?”  
Jeremy… I´m not…  
The animatronic couldn´t bring himself to admit that most soft touches (and most of the violent) didn´t register, even if he was holding the opinion that at this should be obvious. Well… that wasn´t the truth, he had control over his own body and could decide between feeling and not feeling due to his control over his soul and detachment from his own physically, painful at times, but usually not too bad to decide against it… ah, this was getting too convoluted.  
No. It doesn´t scratch.  
Brimming with pride, the boy got himself a small bow tie made out of gift wrapper. “Now I only need my fancy vest and we are ready to go!”  
But… it´s only ten o´clock.  
“Oh… right… when was our appointment again?”  
At five.  
“Oh…” Deflating on the spot, Jeremy pondered for a while. “I guess we could go out and play!”  
It´s raining like crazy. It most likely would break all of my circuits.  
“Man, that’s sad… but no fear! Anime is here to save the day!”  
Anime…?  
“Don´t you know what that is? It´s… uh… a very cool animation style... coming from japan! Right now there´s a new fantasy/sci-fi-anime coming out that I was dying to watch! It´s about a machine in the far future, gaining self-awareness, out of a reason no one understands, and after meeting- … uh… that would be a spoiler now…”  
Before we start that, shouldn´t we buy some groceries…?  
“I have enough! I mean, we still have chips and chocolate and some-”  
Jeremy, that is unhealthy.  
Pouting the human crossed his arms. “I´m an adult, I decide what I eat!”  
Annoyed the puppet rolled his eyes and picked him up by the sweater, to place him in front of the door.  
Go out and buy yourself something healthy.  
“But it´s rainy! I don´t want to go alone!”  
How do you live on your own…?  
“Perfectly well! There´s nothing wrong with eating junk food for a week!”  
Yes there is!  
“You´re not my mom!”  
For Christ’s sake! Okay, you won, I will come with you. Is your bag at least waterproof?  
“I´m not sure… wait! I still have another coat!”  
Jeremy, I´m around twice as big with you and my limbs are freakishly long-  
“Here, try it on!”  
Are you even listening to me?  
Quickly the young man helped him into the bright green coat and even managed to flip the hood over his head.  
“Looks great!” Giving a giant thumbs up, Jeremy got his own jacket and umbrella ready. “Time to go!”  
Why do you ridicule me like that?  
Snickering the boy looked at the oversized being in the small jacket that barely covered half the body, but somehow could cover the head. The jacket was perfectly too small and wide at the same time, making it appear cartoonish.  
“I said you look great! And you´re inside of the backpack anyway, so don´t be so scared!”  
Grumbling the animatronic climbed into his little space.  
You better hurry. I don´t feel like freezing for the next hour.  
Humming Jeremy shouldered his friend and opened the door, before shortly freezing as the telephone was ringing. Hesitating he slowly checked the phone. After seeing the displayed number, he ran out as quickly as possible, slamming the door behind him almost violently. Confused Marion peeked out of his spot.  
Are you alright? Who was it?  
“Just my father. We have to hurry, on Saturdays the stores close so early…”  
You quite often turn his calls down…  
“Well… I´m pretty busy…”  
Do you want to talk about it?  
Feeling the distress inside of his friend´s heart, Marion softly rubbed his shoulders as an inept try at comforting him.  
“My father… is a very emotional man. Christmas has to be spend with the family, or at least I should lock myself all day. I don´t want to listen to him anymore. I don´t want to be ashamed for wanting to play on Christmas anymore. I don´t want to. And YES, I KNOW, I should be grateful for having a father. I am, believe me, I am, I´m just… just… this time. One Christmas where I won´t be told how sinful I am for laughing at a friendly joke.”  
He sounds very strict… there is nothing wrong with enjoying a holiday.  
With a sarcastic laugh, so bitter, so uncharacteristic, it made the animatronic jolt away shortly, the guy shook his head. “Oh, my father could disagree. He has a million arguments against it and with every time you only blink disagreeing, they will triple. Everyone around you is playing outside, while you are on your knees half a day, the other half being filled with rambles about “unchristian practices”. I am tired. Your religion is supposed to be a guide to happiness and a better life… you know?”  
I… actually don´t. I never learned that much about religion.  
“That´s no problem. As long as you feel fulfilled in life, I guess.”  
Your father is a bad man.  
“No he isn´t… of course not. He wants the best for me. Mother too, but she´s a lot softer. I know they want to help me, I just… sometimes you need to decide for yourself and feel free to enjoy this live, instead of focusing on what comes after. As long as no one gets hurt!”  
Marion stayed silent, sensing that Jeremy wanted to be for himself for a while.  
They wandered through the cold streets, grey mixing with grey as you soon couldn´t distinguish between sky and pavement anymore. The fact that everything in the sky was mirrored inside the countless puddles on the ground didn´t help either.  
There was almost no one on the streets, but here and there came a car along to disturb the silence violently for a moment, just to immediately become silent again after passing the next corner.  
Glowing brightly in the distance, the store appeared, friendly, warm and welcoming. Sighing relieved Jeremy shook the water off of him and began to look for whatever he was supposed to get.  
After filling his bags with whatever his companion told him to, he left as fast as possible, talking non-stop over the series he wanted to watch and comparing what he read about it with the other anime he watched in the past. The animatronic gave his best to be a good conversation partner, even if half of the terms were gibberish to him.  
With his returned excitement, the world already didn´t appear all that grey anymore. The sky had regained its brighter color again, looking now rather like fluffy sheep. The rain had stopped and now t was playing with its light, changing all the time.  
Changing. Changing all the time…  
“Hey, Marion, are you feeling okay?”  
Oh, sorry, were I unresponsive?  
“Yeah, you spaced out…”  
I just relaxing, don´t worry…  
They passed the more normal part of the town and entered into the rather desolated part where Jeremy lived.  
Maybe we should hurry a bit…?  
“But why?”  
You´re carrying quite a lot and… well, that´s quite an easy target you make…  
“As if someone would do that to a boy like me! It´s not like there is THAT much crime going on… OH, OH! HERE! OLD SPORT TOLD ME A JOKE!”  
Oh no, please. What did he do?  
“What do you call a snack that gets sold in the hood? A SNIGGERS!”  
This… I don´t actually know if that´s okay. I will have to… TALK with Old Sport about that.  
“Yeah, he will surely tell you some too if you ask him!”  
Can I… leave shortly? It stopped raining…  
Jeremy shortly paused, but shrugged his shoulders. “I don´t see anyone, so fine! I wouldn´t like being stuck all the time either!”  
Swiftly the robot wriggled itself free and hid inside the plenty shadows that the building casted.  
Thankfully there wasn´t anybody out right now.  
Could have become quite messy otherwise.  
They rejoined at the door, where the well-behaved monster reclaimed his spot inside of the bag, just to basically jump out of it as soon as the door to the flat was opened.  
Finally! This took way to long!  
“I agree!” Laughing his friend unpacked the groceries. “Marion, activate the television, would you?”  
I´m on it!  
After five minutes and a activating of the alarm to tell when it´s time to go, they cuddled themselves together on the coach and watched with giant eyes the adventures of a malfunctioning machine in a not-so-cruel and not-so-lonely universe, filled with oddities.  
They didn´t even noticed the light slowly vanishing behind the horizon, until the alarm-clock violently woke them from the fever dream that was the other universe.  
“Oh GOD why do we have to go NOW?!”  
ARGGGH! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE CHEERY, WHEN THE PRINCESS REINILIA HAS TO TAME THE DRAGON?! WHAT IF THREE-TWO-NINE IS ACTUALLY BUILD TO DESTROY THE ANCIENT RACE?!  
“WHAT?! HOW DID YOU GET THAT IDEA?!”  
EPISODE FIVE, WHEN HE THE FIRST TIME LEARNS THAT HE IS ACTUALLY NOT A PROTOTYPE! I MEAN, WHAT ELSE COULD THE INCONSISTENT STRUCTURE OF HIS PROCESSOR MEAN IF IT ISN´T A MISTAKE?!  
“NO WAY! THAT CAN´T BE! SO YOU SAY THAT PART OF EPISODE THREE AND SEVEN WERE ACTUALLY NOT REAL?!”  
OF COURSE, IT WAS THE POINT WHERE HIS OVERDRIVE KICKED IN! THAT´S WHY WE NEVER SEE THAT CHARACTER AGAIN!  
“NOOOOO! SHE CAN´T BE DEAD! SHE WAS THE SISTER OF THE CREATOR, WASN´T SHE?!”  
No, she LIED!  
They didn´t stop screaming at each other until close before they reached the hospital. Forcing themselves to calm down, they put on their costumes, before being greeted by the staff.  
“Ah, you´re… from Freddy´s, right…?” The nurse didn´t really appeared relaxed as she checked the boy in front of her out. Sighing she shook her head. “They wait in the playroom, please… just don´t break anything…”  
“Why would we ever do that?”  
“We?”  
“Yes, me and Marion!”  
Silent the woman gave him another long look and just turned away. “Right… the animatronic… You have two hours until they have to return to their rooms. Use that time wisely and make them happy.”  
“Of course, Madame! You can count on us!” Smiling confidently, the young Guard nodded and walked towards the mentioned room, colorful signs leading the way.  
As they entered, chaos overflowed them. Children were everywhere, some hunting each other, some sitting around looking pale. All of them turned towards the adult as he stepped in, whispering to each other.  
Suddenly panic got a hold of Jeremy. He didn´t expected so many…  
“U-uh… h-hello children! A-are you ready f-for your p-pre-Christmas present… f-from Santa´s nice helper?”  
The silence was weighing heavy. But all of a sudden they broke out into chaos.  
“PRESENTS!”  
“SANTA!”  
“CHRISTMAS!”  
Even the rather tired looking kids began smiling.  
“WHERE IS SANTA`S HELPER?!”  
“I WANT MY PRESENT FIRST!”  
Overwhelmed Jeremy was shoved away from the bag that contained the presents. Thankfully though, the Marionette rose out of it, making the children scream (out of happiness, surely) and jump away.  
Respectful they kept their distance, almost hiding behind the furniture. Trying to regain a little control over the situation, Jeremy picked up the list Mr. Phone Guy gave him.  
“O-okay, here children, Santa gave us a list for all of you! I will call out your name and you can go up to my friend here and get your wish granted!”  
He called out the first name on the list and watched a boy with dark hair stepping up to him, shaking like a little twig in the wind… excitement was one hell of a drug. Kindly smiling Jeremy kneeled to be on eyelevel. “So, where you a nice or naughty this year?”  
“N-nice…?”  
“That is good! Here, you wished for a racecar, didn´t you?”  
“Yes…” Hopeful, but still nervous the boy glanced at the Puppet, who wasn´t too happy as well.  
“Well then! Ask my friend if he has your presents!”  
Quietly smiling, Jeremy watched the kid almost tumble while walking towards Marion. He remembered his own Christmas well enough.  
“P-please… Santa-helper, do you have a racecar for me…?”  
Yes my child. Here you go.  
Friendly sounding, the machine picked the present out of the bag it was residing in, making the child´s face lit up in happiness. This also made the other kids step closer again.  
Satisfied the next names were worked off the list, the whole event going swimmingly-  
JEREMY, JEREMY THERE WAS A SPIDER IN THIS BAG, A SPIDER, A FUCKING SPIDER, JEREMY!  
Panic spread everywhere, as the animatronic clawed onto the ceiling, screeching madly. Some kids were panicked because of the spider as well, some because of the monster that looked like the lovechild of the boogieman and a haunted doll, which was now glued onto the ceiling and some were because of all the panic.  
“Marion, calm down! It´s j-just a little spider, no big deal-”  
IT CAN JUMP, JEREMY, IT JUMPS!  
“MARION, STOP FREAKING OUT! YOU´RE SCARING THE KIDS!”  
Someone had ripped off the fairy lights on the tree in the corner, setting said tree accidently on fire. The alarm ringed in all their ears, worsening the situation even more.  
“MARION, GET THE CHILDREN OUT OF HERE!”  
WHAT DO YOU THINK I´M DOING?!  
“STILL SCREAMING OVER A LITTLE SPIDER!”  
JEREMY! RATHER HELP ME INSTEAD OF BITCHING!  
“IT`S CALLED COMPLAINING AND I`M NOT! NOW HURRY!” Jeremy rushed out the kids that could run by themselves and ensured that no kid was getting stepped over. Marion picked up the kids who couldn´t walk by themselves and quickly throwing the out of the window (where conveniently a life net had already been placed, otherwise this would have gotten pretty dark), just as the next piece of furniture was catching fire.  
They finally got the kids out, thankfully, as the Puppet was slowly was getting dizzy. The thick smoke filled the whole room by now. Why was he getting dizzy? He wasn´t even breathing… Jeremy seemed to feel the same way. “Marion… we have to get out of here…”  
I agree, hold my hand, I can still see the exit!  
Finally outside again, even managing to safe their bags with the presents. Children were surrounding them, actually laughing.  
“I wished for this! Thank you Santa-helper!” A small girl hugged the Puppet tightly.  
“Yeah, this was cool!” Between coughing and laughing, a boy in a wheelchair gave a thumbs-up.  
“Can we do that next year again?” Some other girl with short hair jumped around, completely overhyped.  
“Are the presents okay…?” Many murmurs agreed with the importance of that possibility.  
You children… just survived a fire and all you care about are the presents?!  
“YES!”  
Consumerism always wins.  
Jeremy chuckled. “I´m happy they aren´t scarred by this… okay, let´s go on with the list! Laura! There´s a lovely doll waiting for you!”  
She screamed in delight and hugged first the object, secondly the Guard. The Puppet was petted shortly.  
Sometime after they finished and were only entertaining the kids that weren´t engrossed by the beautiful flames, the boy in the wheelchair came up to them. Nervously he pulled on his color pallet he had received as gift, differing between becoming red and pale. After two minutes Marion finally had enough.  
What is it?  
“S-sir… I… if you don´t mind I´d like to c-change my present…”  
Why?  
“I´d… Please, sir, can you can fly, I saw it… can you make me fly? It doesn´t need to be for long a-and you can have your first present back! I just… I really want to get out of this chair…”  
Surprised Jeremy joined the conversation. “No, you don´t need to give your gift back! Of course Marion will help you, right?”  
“M-marion? A nice name…”  
I can´t just fly around-  
“Please Mister Marion! Please!” Begging the boy clutched his colors closer. “I´d do anything!”  
Now both humans were giving him a pleading look. Defeated the animatronic checked around.  
Alright. What is your name?  
“My name is Leo, sir.”  
Leo. Nice. Where do you want to fly?  
“M-my home, if that is f-fine…”  
But your parents won´t be there. They are probably on their way over here to check on you, after hearing of the fire.  
“Really? Oh… t-that makes sense… then I´d just like to fly. Please…”  
Jeremy, keep an eye out, so no one sees us.  
“Yessir!”  
Let´s go Leo. Time to see the world from above.  
Glad Jeremy watched his friend picking up the kid, who was laughing, enjoying the thrill of the cold air in his face and the glowing light below him. The Guard was proud to call the animatronic his friend. Even if he just almost burned down the whole hospital.  
After an hour they decided to leave. Parents smiled at him while he was walking past them, apparently being told by their kids how awesome and nice the day was. Again and again some walked up to them and thanked them for saving their kids out of the fire and keeping them calm. As long as no one noticed that it was their fault that the whole situation even developed, they might even get a bit of positive reputation!  
“Either we will see in the newspaper tomorrow that two brave employees of Freddy´s saved children out of a fire… or I will be fired.” His smile was between panicked and joking.  
Don´t worry, you won´t be fired. I will make sure of that. After all, if your boss makes problems, we can easily replace him…  
“Are you serious? For heaven´s sake, Marion! You can´t frame Mr. Phone Guy for something! Or whatever your plan is right now! If Mr. Phone Guy decides to fire me, I deserve it and he is just doing his job! If I harm the franchise, I have to carry the consequences!” The poor boy got more and more upset. “If I think about it, I probably should tell him about the fire myself. He should be aware that I´m too irresponsible to take care of kids-”  
Jeremy, he knows.  
“What? Are you making fun of me…?”  
No, I am completely serious! How probable is it for a hospital to burn down? Not very, but now that we visited, it´s completely destroyed. Well, not completely, but you get the point. The Phone Guy is smart, he may even could have predicted this to happen, but he still chose to let us go. Now, I will tell you a little secret. Once you were accepted as employee, you became part of a deal: You won´t get punished for your faults, if you don´t let yourself be caught. Even if it is obvious you were at fault. As long as no one PROOFS it, no one will take action.  
“Really? That sounds… weird.”  
How else could you explain that Mike never gets disciplined for screaming at the customers? Because Phone Guy conveniently becomes deaf in that time.  
“Hm… fine. Are you sure he knows what we did?”  
Yes. Don´t worry Jeremy, Phone Guy does trust us, but still knows we aren´t perfect. As long as you don´t tell him to his face what you did, essentially forcing him to take action, he will forgive you.  
“He is a really nice boss. I was scared of my first job before, but as soon as we began talking, I knew it would be fine!”  
Giggling the young Guard told the Puppet some anecdotes of stories he got told by his parents and what Phone Guy managed to prove and to subvert.  
The way home was peaceful.  
Since it was a beautiful, lonely night, Jeremy and Marionette agreed that there wasn´t too much risk in walking side by side… or rather floating and walking side by side. Seemingly not noticing what he was doing, Jeremy grabbed his hand and sighed happy.  
“This was great! But I didn´t knew you hated spiders…”  
They are so icky! Do you even know how it is to have one of them INSIDE of you?! Argh… I don´t even want to think about it… the memories are bad enough…  
Nodding in agreement, the small guy tightened his grip and smiled at him. “I guess I will have to protect you from that then! You can count on me!”  
When we´re home, can we keep watching?!  
“WHAT ARE YOU EVEN THINKING? It´s going to be an anime-night! And since tomorrow is Sunday, we won´t even regret it that much!”  
Sh… I think there was something…  
“Maybe a squirrel?”  
I… I will be right back. Just keep walking, I will be back in a minute…  
“Don´t get yourself in trouble, okay…?” The real fear in Jeremy´s voice suddenly activated a weird feeling in the Marionette´s chest. A feeling he couldn´t place. Almost as if something was pounding in there. But that wasn´t possible.  
Y-yes. I won´t need long.  
From shadow to shadow the figure skipped, trying to follow the peculiar noise that reminded him of breathing. Ah, bingo, there he was.  
He couldn’t really see what kind of person it was, but the Marionette didn´t like the vibes of the man. Either he was high or very terrified, in both cases a danger. Shivering and clutching something in his pocket, he again and again peeked around the corners. It was almost midnight, another event, the fire at the hospital had probably caught most attention of the authorities… this wasn´t anything he was willing to risk.  
In a swift movement, he clawed into his throat and LET THE BODY HIT THE FLOOR!  
Wow, it had been a while since he did this the last time. Usually they came together and stuffed the body, in hopes Fredbear would give them another…  
Snarling the Puppet shook his body as he thought of the Orange Guy. How much he hated him. Maybe even more than William.  
Anger was disturbing his stream of thought, making his mind disjointed and jumbled. Again and again he teared his corpse in front of him apart, just to abruptly stop and stare blankly down at himself.  
Blood was so warm… and disgustingly sticky. Jeremy wouldn´t touch his hands like these.  
But he knew you couldn´t see it after washing it off.  
No one could see it.  
But some knew it anyway.  
Sluggish he dragged himself towards the next puddle, carefully drenching his claws, watching the fairly clean water darken with every passing second.  
What if the man was sick? And needed help? Didn´t had a home? And was freezing? What if he was just another human? A scared and alone?  
Fascinated he enjoyed those thoughts that were Jeremy through and through. As if he had absorbed a part of his friend. Friendship was nice.  
“Marion?” The human´s voice sounded from the distance. Goddammit.  
In a flash he joined his side as they entered their home again, Jeremy slightly shrieking as he noticed that his friend was this wet. “What happened?!”  
I fell.  
“Oh no! Did it hurt?!”  
A little…  
“Are you freezing?! Let me activate the heater, then I´ll get the hot chocolate- Oh, wait, you don´t drink… uh… I´ll get the hot chocolate, you hold it to get warm and I´ll drink from it!”  
Chuckling slightly, Marion nodded.  
Sounds wonderful. As long as that won´t prolong our ANIME NIGHT!  
“OF COURSE NOT! GET THE TV READY! I`LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE! I TELL YOU, THREE-TWO-NINE IS NOT THE VILLIAN!”  
I TELL YOU, HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN BE!  
Their discussion was immediately stopped, as they put on the next episode, once more snuggled next to each other. Or rather, as soon as the tension started to rise, on top of each other, since Jeremy was using him as a mixture out of pillow and Teddy bear, hiding his face whenever the main character got in trouble and squeezing him when it became dangerous.  
Episode chased episode, until the birds began singing and sunlight crept through the windows. Not that they would notice, after all the three part final was on.  
It took three more hours until finally Jeremy snapped out of his eeks and shrieks.  
“DID YOU SEE HOW THEY BURNED DOWN THE MAIN PROCESSOR, BUT IN THE BACKGROUND, THERE WAS THIS ANIMAL FROM DISTRICT FOUR, OBVIOUSLY PROVING THE GOOD INTENTION OF THE SO CALLED “VILLAIN”? ACTUALLY, THE MAIN CHARACTERS WERE FOOLED INTO DOING BAD DEEDS!”  
NO, HOW?! THIS SEASON WAS OBVIOUSLY NOT REAL AND RATHER HAPPENED JUST IN THREE-TWO-NINE´S HEAD! IT STARTS WITH THE STRONG CHARACTER CHANGE WITH REINILIA AND THE PLOT TWIST THAT SHE USES THE DRAGON TO FIGHT HER FATHER IS A SIMPLE METAPHOR BETWEEN THREE-TWO-NINE´S CODING AND WISHES FOR STABILITY AGAINST HIS MORALITY, USING HIS INSTINCTS! REINILIA AS OBJECT OF HIS AFFECTION AND RESPECT FITTED THE ROLE ALMOST PERFECTLY, EXCEPT THE FLAWS THAT GOT IGNORED IN HIS VISION. THIS CAN`T BE THE LAST SEASON!  
“IT CAN´T BE!” Jeremy tried to jump into the air, but wobbled and actually almost tripped over, only held up by Marion´s grip. “Ow… I´m dizzy… haha… shouldn´t stand up so quickly…”  
With a quick scan over his human friend´s face (bags under the eye, pupils giant, some muscles twitching around) the animatronic shook his head and softly tugged him along back to the bedroom and shoving him into the sheets.  
You need sleep. I´ll take care of the mess in the living room.  
“You´re…” Jeremy yawned. “…the best of the best! Thanks…” And with that he was gone into a dreamland filled with dimensions and ships, crossing a sea of stars.  
Smiling Marionette stroke over his hair, before facing the daunting task of cleaning. He hated cleaning before. But twenty years inside of a box was really a perspective changer. Next to the reward that he would have proven himself useful after the debacle the last morning… and afternoon… and actually the last week…  
Embarrassed the Puppet sighed, hurried with the cleaning and smiled to himself.  
Housing a creature that many would almost consider a demon, was bad enough, but also letting slide so many failures… without any fear?  
Fear was a prominent element in his life… fear of the others. Fear of never getting home again. Fear of getting killed by him.  
Days had passed in darkness, nights not much difference. Kids had stopped visiting and so all day was devoured by getting out, getting out, GETTING OUT. Now, finally, the burning inside of him was quenched, not by blood, not by violence, no, by soft smiles. By touches and laughs. By games and cooking.  
By being away from Freddy´s.  
By being with Jeremy.  
Once again he felt it… the pounding.  
As if he had a heart.  
Or was he malfunctioning? Could be possible, he didn´t really remembered how a heartbeat was working…  
Devastated by memories, too old to bring back into the light, Marion sneaked into bed next to his human, desperate to keep himself from breaking down again.  
Clinging close the Marionette listed to his breathing.  
In and out.  
In and out.  
Warm and soft.  
In the end, he hadn´t changed a lot.  
But maybe… just maybe this wasn´t weakness. Maybe it was humanity.  
Stop messing around, it was both unneeded.  
Jeremy mumbled something and rolled onto him.  
And made Marion decided.  
Save him. Protect him.  
But don´t let him make you weak.  
The greater good needed to be paid attention to, the children have to be freed and the murderer has to be killed. But protecting the innocent as long as possible shouldn´t be too much of a feat, right?!  
Freddy couldn´t ruin EVERYTHING that was nice, RIGHT?!  
Nah.  
The Puppet leaned his cold mask onto the warm face of the human. This would keep the nightmares away.  
Sleep well Jeremy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would expect me to know what the heck I´m doing, after all I offered it, but I was ripped apart between writing it as part of the story and writing something that could stand on its own…  
> In the end it became more part of the story and so I just decided to release it in here.  
> Again, I put quite the effort into this, working and rewriting again and again parts and pieces. Yet, if I completely missed your wish, imagine me rolling around on the floor, praying for a second chance.  
> Then you could give me some more instructions, so I can make you happy :3  
> If you´re happy with what I did then… MERRY CHRISTMAS! THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE SINCE CHAPTER 4 (Technically three, but whatever!)


	16. Christmas and Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the weather´s bad tonight!  
> Stay inside and have a bite!  
> Stay with us and spread delight,  
> cause we don´t have a tree to light!  
> The powers off we cut the phone,  
> here´s a suit to call your own!  
> Try it on! Welcome home!  
> You´ll never spend another Christmas all alone! 
> 
> JTMachinima – Merry FNAF Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! Second chapter for the CHRISTMAS DAY!  
> Not much to say other than... ENJOY!

“Why.”  
This wasn´t even a question, it was an emotion. Mike sat on a table of the dining area, with a Christmas hat and a glass of something he wished to be alcoholic in nature. Next to him were about ten doggos, eating pizza with kibble and barking excitedly.  
Dave and Old Sport were singing since six o´clock all Christmas songs they knew. It started with “Jingle Bells”, continued with “We wish you a merry Christmas” and were now on “Last Christmas”, driving Mike slowly insane, but he kept quiet since Jeremy was singing along.  
Phone was merciful and sat down next to him, handing him some earplugs. “You aren´t really one for the holiday spirits, are you?”  
“Fucking guess.”  
“But… everyone loves Christmas! Even the robots like it!”  
A staring contest ensued, which PG won, since he didn´t even needed to blink. “I just never got the fuzz about it. What is so great about it? Nice food and present you could have whenever you wanted, but for some reason people think they can ONLY give each other present on some arbitrarily day, essentially FORCING each other into giving presents.”  
“Forcing? Were you forced into buying presents?”  
“Yes.”  
“By whom? Tell me, because I´d love to get to know the person that can force you to do ANYTHING.”  
“Fuck you, Phone-face.”  
“Okay, do you want some alcohol? I have some in the office…”  
“No. I´m not allowed to drink, since it could react with my medicine.”  
“Well, I´m going to get some.”  
Phone Guy left for a short while, leaving Mike to continue to stare at his co-workers. Jeremy was decorating the tree, handing ornaments he wanted to have on top of the tree over to the puppet, who floated up and placed in the desired location. Dave and Old Sport were dancing on the table, now singing about a meme machine, for some reason, cheerful as ever.  
The scene was so peaceful, he could almost forget that he was surrounded by murderers.  
Phone Guy came back, a few bottles and small glasses in his hands and sat back down next to Mike, pouring himself some.  
Attracted by their curiosity, the two colorful Guards moved towards them, Old Sport jumped onto the table and posed like one of the French girls. “PHONEY, MY HOENEY, did you noticed that Jeremy has freed the most dangerous animatronic of the pizzeria and is currently carrying it around in his backpack?”  
“Oh gee, employee, thanks for telling me! We have to get rid of it, before it KILLS KIDS, or MOLESTS ROBOTS!”  
Old Sport rolled off, pouting. “Okay, fine, I get it. Can I have a drink?”  
“Sure, why not.” With that Phone Guy poured Dave and Old Sport a generous fill and leaned back, almost relaxed. “If we are forced to be chained to a hellish company forever, we can at least spend our days here a bit nicer. I sure hope you two brought some presents!”  
“Of course! As if I´d pass an opportunity to give you something back!”  
“If it´s something dangerous, I´ll personally make it my lifegoal to end you.”  
Dave and Old Sport exchanged a look and began to snicker. “As if we would EVER do that!”  
Mike interrupted. “By the way, WHERE the FUCK is my cap?! I hate this shitty Christmas hat.”  
“Na-ah, Mikey~ it´s our day, our rules! Dress code!”  
“We got you a presents! The least you can do is letting us have a bit fun!”  
Phone Guy only opened his receiver to drink his shot. “Don´t mind it, Mike, we´re all wearing it after all.”  
Growling the moody man stood up and went over to Jeremy and his Marionette. Whenever the Marionette´s body vanished into the bag, a… ghost appeared? Well, rather a shadow than a ghost, it´s body was almost black, with white marks here and there. Their eyes met and Mike realized something disgusting.  
What the Marionette was wearing wasn´t a mask.  
That was his FACE.  
And it GRINNED.  
“Mike, can you hold that for a second?” Jeremy handed him an armful of colorful ornaments. “Really, I love that I can FINALLY decorate a tree! This is so BEAUTIFUL!”  
His ghostly companion nodded in agreement.  
“Great, it looks snazzy. Could you take out the fucking death marionette? I´d rather have it somewhere I can SEE it.”  
“SEE! MARION, THEY WANT TO SEE YOU!”  
Now it were the Puppet and the Guard, who were exchanging glances.  
Yes, I´m sure that it´s that.  
“Right, Jeremy, we´d LOVE to have this terrifying, giant monster with us at our table!”  
“REALLY?! YOU`RE SO NICE! I KNEW YOU COULD GET OVER THE PAST! You guys are THE BEST!”  
They once more looked at each other. Whispering, which was actually unneeded, since the telepathy could be directed, the Puppet nudged Mike.  
Should we tell him…?  
“No.”  
Slowly the thing crawled out of the soft prison and accompanied them to the table, where Old Sport was waving franticly. “PUPPET! SIT NEXT TO ME! HERE´S A CHAIR FOR YOU! YOU CAN SIT HERE!”  
Before Dave or the machine could argue, Jeremy rushed over. “Heck yeah! You´re too kind!”  
Awkward silence ensued, as the Puppet crammed himself onto the small chair.  
A few seconds passed until Old Sport decided to break the ice, a bad decision soon regretted by everyone in the room except for him.  
“You know what I always have to think about when I see presents?!”  
“What?”  
“Dead bodies!”  
Everyone was puzzled at those words.  
“Yeah, Phoney told me last year about how still and lifeless unopened presents appear! I think he wanted to guilt-trip me or something, since he said there would be presents lying under the tree, which would never be opened, since the children died in this restaurant! But I couldn´t help myself but think… What kind of retarded parents buy presents for their dead kids?! I mean, seriously? Love ya Phoney, but you are pretty slow.”  
The Puppet reached over and covered his lips.  
Shut up. I do not wish to massacre you on this day of peace.  
“Why not? Is the day of peace any different to you than any other day? I mean, don´t get me wrong, I like to stay alive, but it´s just very odd to me… Revenge should be an everyday act!”  
Orange Guy, I really agree with you. It is time to end you.  
“Could you fucking shorten your sentences a little? You aren´t impressing ANYONE.” Mike yawned. “Seriously, we all know it´s just an act by now, so please fucking spare us. Every second I´m NOT spending with your stupid talk is a second I DON`T feel like killing myself.”  
Insulted the being turned towards the asshole.  
You will be next.  
“Oh, I´m SCARED! MOMMY, HELP ME!”  
Jeremy interrupted. “While we´re at dead children, why aren´t the animatronics here?”  
They all looked at him.  
Phone Guy poured himself another shot. “Yeah, he´s right! Get ´em over here!”  
As Old Sport shortly rushed over, Phone Guy curiously sat up. “How did your charity work out, you two?”  
“It was GREAT!”  
Absolutely horrible.  
“The kids were so excited, they couldn´t stop cheering.”  
Screaming is the better word for it.  
“And they loved the gifts so much, they hugged them for hours!”  
They hoped that they could use the gifts as shield.  
“All in all I´d love to it again!”  
It wasn´t all that bad. Three of them really appeared to be happy, thankfully, and as soon as they started playing with me, the others stopped crying so loud. In my opinion are three happy kids still worth it.  
Five minutes later, the whole group was sitting around, chattering and having a great time. Dave and Old Sport had left them though, under the excuse of checking up on the presents.  
“Good, good, phase one of Orange Guy´s “happy-sappy-three-step-plan” went swimmingly!”  
Dave couldn´t say anything against that name. “What was the first step?”  
“Luring everyone into a false sense of security! Now we´re going into step two: Trap and attack! Take this!” With that he covered him in leaves. “MISTLETOES! We HAVE to hang them up EVERYWHERE!”  
“Why?” Confused Dave eyed them.  
“Because…” Shortly he paused. “Dave, don´t you know what Mistletoes mean?”  
With a certain naiveté Dave smelled on them. “They aren´t poisonous, are they? I mean, you would have told me… wouldn´t you..?”  
Puzzled Old Sport raised a brow, there was real worry in the voice of his friend. “What are you thinking of me? No, it isn´t, this is actually about a very old tradition, that goes… wait, I´ll show you.”  
Suddenly smirking mischievously Old Sport held up one of them and signed him to come closer. “First you hang it somewhere and wait until two people step under it.”  
Dave slightly bend down to step under the plant, expectantly watching Old Sport.  
“And then they have to…” He grabbed Dave and smooched him. “Kiss each other!”  
The poor man was now burning red, his eyes glowed like spotlights. “T-that´s a… a tradition?!”  
But the Orange Guard had already left under laughter, looking for a ladder to reach the ceiling with. It took Dave actually seven minutes to calm down and follow him with the mistletoes.  
After ten productive minutes, they were finished with their work, except of course in the main hall, where the Guards could have noticed what exactly they were doing.  
Jeremy was too curious though, so he wandered over and stepped next to Orange Guy. “What are you doing?” He noticed the leaves and laughed. “What a nice idea! But now I´m standing under it with you right?”  
“You´re goddam right!” Giggling he leaned down the ladder, but after he gave him a peck on the nose, he was flung into the next wall, by an outraged Puppet, who stood protectively in front of the shocked boy. Its claws were exposed, ready to rip open any enemy.  
WHAT WERE YOU PLANNING ON DOING TO JEREMY?!  
“Jesus, chill… ow, my back…” Defeated Old Sport stayed on the ground. “It´s a mistletoe, Puppet! That´s what people do! C´mon, it was just a little touch!”  
Jeremy worryingly made a few steps towards the Guard. “A-are you alright…? Sorry…!”  
“Nah, I´m fine! I have at least three ribs still intact!”  
The young man somewhat sighed at his friend, before tugging him down and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Merry Christmas, you paranoid. Didn´t I tell you never to attack anyone? You could always harm someone who doesn´t deserve it!”  
S-Sorry… I made bad memories.  
“Say sorry to Old Sport, then it´s fine!”  
Obviously uncomfortable, the being floated towards his old enemy.  
Sorry for attacking you for the wrong reason.  
Smugly grinning the Orange Guard rose from the ground. “Jeremy is a really good influence. I´m proud of him.”  
One day I will sit on the end of your bed, your beating heart in my claws.  
“Awww, I love you too!”  
And with that he jumped up, running towards the main area.  
Mike had noticed what was going on and was ready to fight. “I WON´T LEAVE THIS AREA. NO, FUCK YOU. FUCK YOU ALL. FUCK YOUR MISTLETOES!”  
The animatronics were excited and walked around, looking at the plant and discussing if it was a good addition.  
Phone Guy was taking his bottle again, but ultimately decided against it. “Don´t worry, it´s not like they move around or some stuff. If you are careful where you go, you should be fine.”  
Chica sneaked up and grabbed Mike. “NOT IF I KIDNAP HIM!”  
“FUCKING FUCK, LET ME THE FUCK GO, OR I´LL FUCK YOU UP, YOU FUCK, I DON`T WANT TO KISS A FUCKING MOULDY ASS ROBOT THAT WAS FILLED WITH A CORPSE! IF YOU PULL ME UNDER A FUCKING MISTLETOE, I´LL LET YOU KISS MY FUCKING FIST!”  
“Honey, if your fist lands on my face, your fist is gonna lose…”  
“Chica, please let him down, he had a bad day.”  
Insulted she turned away. “Whatever! I also have better things to do, than trying to cheer up a piece of sh*t!” The automatic censor activated itself.  
The distracted Mike didn´t noticed Old Sport running towards him until it was too late and the snowball hit the back of his head. “WHAT THE FUCK?! WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT!?”  
Old Sport was back at the employees-only door, laughing his ass of. The laughter was quickly silenced as Mike began to chase him. “COME BACK HERE SO I CAN BREAK YOUR NECK!”  
Quickly he picked up his baseball bat, in case his fist weren´t sufficient. While opening the backdoor he crouched, effectively dodging the barrage of ice aimed where his body was a second before.  
Old Sport was panting heavily, but glowing with joy. “TRY TO GET ME, MIKEY~!”  
The man got ready to charge at him, yet suddenly noticed the ghost children who had sneaked up behind his foe, each with an impressive amount of snow in their hand.  
Grinning he lowered his bat. “I don´t even have to get you.”  
“What? Why?”  
“Because you´re already surrounded. GET HIM!”  
Squealing Old Sport was dragged down and bombarded with snow. It was stuffed into his mouth, his hair and his clothes, making him scream out for his friend. “DAVE! MIKE`S VIRGINAL POWERS HAVE REACHED THE NEXT LEVEL! HE´S NOW A PSYCHIC! SAVE ME!”  
As soon as possible he began to run away, unknowingly being chased by five snickering kids.  
Mike laughed maniacally at this newfound power. “YOU WILL DIE OUT HERE! ANGERING ME WAS YOUR LAST MISTAKE! I WILL-”  
And with that he was tackled to the ground by a grinning Dave and rubbed face first into the cold snow. “CALL BACK YOUR POWERS, FIEND, AND FIGHT US LIKE A MAN!”  
The underdog managed to free his left arm and hit his enemy right between the ribs, making him fall back. In a flash Mike kicked more snow into Dave´s face, blinding him long enough to pounce onto him, ready to suffocate him with the ice.  
Luckily for Dave though, Old Sport had managed to escape his followers for long enough to throw another snowball, right at Mike´s face.  
“Oh, I WANNA JOIN TOO!” Jeremy jumped in, throwing only half-formed chunks of ice around at everybody. Dave and Mike got ready for a counter, but suddenly the Marionette appeared behind Jeremy, his neck crooked and his expression telling a tale of pain for anyone who dared to hurt his partner.  
Once Old Sport managed run past the smaller Guard and the ghosts hit him by accident, there was no holding back as the Marionette began chasing them around. Now free from the haunting of his past victim, the Orange Guard helped Dave up and began with the next snowball aimed at Mike, who had built himself a snow wall for protection.  
Jeremy was giggling as he threw himself right into it. “NO HIDING!” Playful he shoveled a handful of ice into his friend´s jacket.  
Said man wasn´t having any of it and indiscriminately shoved him down into the cold, just as with others.  
“HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO MY UNOFFICIALLY ADOPTED SON! YOU MONSTER!” With a battle cry the Orange Guard attacked and rolled around with his co-worker.  
All of a sudden Dave cried out. “YOUR ADOPTED SON WITH WHOM?! HAVE YOU BEEN UNFAITHFUL?! I WILL END THIS SIGN OF YOUR BETRAYAL!”  
Both looked up to see that Dave had Jeremy in a headlock, one hand free and filled with a pile of snow, ready to be mushed all over him.  
“NO! DON´T DO IT DAVE! IT DOESN´T HAVE TO END THIS WAY! WE CAN BE A FAMILY!”  
“WHY SHOULD I BELIEVE YOU, OLD SPORT?! AFTER THIS CRUEL ACT I CAN`T SAY I KNOW YOU ANYMORE!"”  
Jeremy had listened with a smirk and now jerked Dave´s arm towards his face, using the surprise to duck away, making the Purple Guy hit himself instead. Victorious the boy howled.  
“I AM THE SNOW KING!”  
Old Sport looked at Dave, who returned the amused expression. They chimed in. “THE SNOW KING, THE SNOW KING!”  
Mike was almost ready to interrupt, but felt too tired and wet for that.  
The colorful duo picked up Jeremy and carried him back inside, repeating his hymn over and over. Old Sport called out for Foxy.  
“Hey, Foxy, the Snow King has arrived! Tell his tale for a hundred years to come!”  
Right back on board, Foxy bowed. “Your majesty! You have the power! Bless us with the final arrival of Christmas!”  
All the other machines began to surround him as well, cheering and clapping.  
“TIME FOR PRESENTS!” Jeremy screamed out, excitement making his voice crack.  
Dave jumped up. “I have a surprise for that!” Quickly he vanished into the backroom, just to return basically immediately. “PHONEY! DID YOU FREE THE MIDGET I KIDNAPPED?”  
“You mean the one dressed in all green?”  
“He was supposed to be an elf!”  
“I threw him in the dumpster, we can´t really afford more legal-suits.”  
“Shit, I worked for days until I found one! You ruined my Christmas!”  
“Calm the fffffffff--- heck down.” Phoney stretched and picked up the almost impressive amount of presents from under the tree. “So, they are sorted out after name, who wants to go first?”  
Old Sport jumped forward. “I WANNA, I WANNA!” In a flash he stormed at his boss, making him drop it all and seek for shelter from his wrath.  
Like the wild animal that the zombie was, he teared apart the wrapping paper, almost ripping apart what was inside. There was a small, puppy-sized plush of a doggo in there! Handmade too! How c00t!  
Embarrassed, Jeremy giggled. “I made it for you! Even if I´m not that good at doing this, I hope you still like it…”  
“I FUCKING LOVE IT! I COULD EAT IT RIGHT HERE!” With that ringing endorsement, Old Sport threw it over the shoulder to open his next, smaller package. It contained… raisins.  
“Fuck you, I don´t fucking knew what else the fuck I should get you, so I-”  
“YOU´RE THE BEST! I`M AMAZED!” While Mike tugged his hat deeper into his face to hide any kind of relief, Old Sport downed them all in one giant gulp, to move on to the last box. After vaporizing the package with his sheer determination, it revealed a hand crank, great in quality and condition. Phone Guy slightly coughed.  
“Wouldn´t want to lose you just like that, now would we? It should give you more safety in your job.”  
“Oh gee, thanks Mr. Phone Man, it makes me almost regret being a bad person! Kidding, I like it! The present, I mean.”  
For a minute he stared at his gifts, smiling, then looked up, still with the same expression. “Dave? Where´s your gift?”  
Dave sat up straight and grinned. “Well, you remember that Minireena wanted to stay home today, right?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Do you know why?”  
“Dave, if you don´t get to my present right now, I´ll cut off your balls-”  
“She´s getting your stuff ready! You´re gonna move in with me, sweetheart!”  
“This is-” The Orange Guy stopped and rolled his eyes. “You could have asked me before!”  
“Why should I? It´s not like you would say no… whenever I watched you alone in your house, you were so depressed!”  
“You…” Slowly he walked closer until he towered over his sitting friend, who kept smiling. “… bastard.” He flicked him against the nose. “This is basically another gift you made for yourself, right?”  
“I´d call it… mutual beneficial!”  
Pouting the Orange Guy walked away and sat down next to Phone Guy, who actually patted him on the back. “At least you got presents.”  
“You got some too! Stop lying, I got you one MYSELF!”  
Genuinely shocked, the Head-Guard was investigated the pile. There wasn´t just one, there were FOUR presents lying there with his name! Or rather labeled Mr. Phone Guy, Phoney, Phone-replacement-for-a-dad-that-I-never-had and Simon.  
Instinctively he reached for the one with the name on it. It was wrapped in basically nothing but a thin paper. There was a shining Taser inside.  
Mike had now turned away fully, making the Phone-head guess that it was because of intense reddening of his face. “You… should have something to protect yourself with. Don´t want to become the next psychopath of the building, just because I feel the need to make sure you aren´t dying.”  
“This… this means a lot to me! Actually, I think no one EVER told me I should keep myself safe…”  
“Yeah, yeah, mushy feels and shit, I´ll be back when you fucking calmed down.”  
This wasn´t an empty threat, Mike had something different to do anyway. Once he managed to shortly hide away in the office, he called for his ghost-kids. They appeared, smiling and chattering.  
“You guys can leave, I just wanted to talk to Suzy.”  
“The f… frick do you want?!”  
“Why are you censoring yourself?”  
“Because it´s Christmas! If I swear, I´ll get nothing but coal.”  
“Well, didn´t your mom tell you that Santa isn´t real?” She stared him down, her expression unreadable due to her mask, but the older one assumed she was somewhat terrified. “But that doesn´t matter anyway, since I made you a present myself.”  
“Oh, great, what is it? A broken pen? A piece of chewed gum?”  
“What… what are you thinking of me?! Fuck you!”  
“WE HATE EACH OTHER! YOU WOULD NEVER GIVE ME SOMETHING!”  
“I… I don´t hate you.” Irritated Mike shook his head. “What the fuck gave you that idea? You´re annoying, but so is the rest of this planet.”  
The little Foxy-masked girl hugged herself. “I don´t believe you.”  
“Look at what I made for you and decide for yourself.”  
She accepted the thing wrapped in fabric and began to carefully examine it. Finding nothing suspicious she unwrapped it.  
A figurine out of basswood fell out. It was a Toy Foxy, clumsily carved out of the wood, drawn on with paint. No words followed upon Suzy picking up the figure.  
“Just t-to your fucking information, I spend THE LAST WEEKS on that shit! You better-”  
Crying the kid hugged him around the waist. “THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! It´s… it´s beautiful! You… really did this… for me?!”  
“Of course. I wanted to help you.”  
Golden glow emitted out of her tiny body, as she took of her mask, smiling brightly at him. “We´re… repaired. Finally.”  
Gary, who had watched from the door stepped in, shyly nodding at Suzy. “Congratulation! You´re free! I told you Mike would find a way…”  
The girl hugged her friend and twirled him around, just to run out, her present still in her hands.  
The bear and the Guard stayed back, silently.  
“What do you need to go free?”  
“I… I´m not sure…” The boy scratched his arms, appearing lonelier and lonelier the longer Mike looked at him. “You should head back for now, your friends will start to worry! I will think about it, okay?”  
There was no reason to argue with the kid, so Mike only returned to his group, snorting as he saw PG wearing a fake moustache and a shaded monocle.  
“What the fuck.”  
“Old Sport´s gift. For old time sakes.”  
“I don´t even want to know.”  
Now PG was carefully opening the smallest package, which contained a CD, with some sort of classical music. Jeremy shrugged slightly helpless. “I didn´t know what you´d like, sir. I hope this brings some joy to your life…”  
“Any kind of gift (excluding dead bodies, lawsuits, semen of any kind and deadly animatronics trying to kill me in my sleep) is a great gift. Thank you a lot!”  
Slightly worried Phoney finally grabbed the presents Dave had placed under there and weighed it in his hands, as if he could weigh danger. After noticing that basically everyone was staring at him, he unwrapped it.  
An oddly shaped screwdriver fell out of it, caught in the last minute by the Purple Guy himself. With an almost calm smile he handed it over again. “You know, this isn´t any ol´ screwdriver! No, that would be mean, wouldn´t it? No, this fits in only one place… probably. Can you guess?”  
“Your a--- I mean, the robots?”  
“Well, define “robot”, am I right?” Laughing at his own joke, the man proceed. “Nah, it is for your head!”  
“WHAT?”  
“Yes! In case you want to take a look. Or get rid of some… barriers they inserted. They say it´s to keep you safe, but honestly, what´s the worst that could happen?”  
Phone Guy stared at the tool, terrified.  
Dave shoved him over, greedily grabbing the stack, only afterwards checking which one were his. Letting the others drop carelessly, he instantly tore apart the one from Old Sport.  
The item inside was treated with the utmost contrast. Lovingly Dave softly tugged it out of the shreds.  
It was a shining knife, fairly big, but still able to be condensed, as well as at least appearing to be sturdy. The color scheme was horrible, since purple with orange highlights were NOT a good combo, but the Purple Guy was squealing like a ten year old.  
“IT´S THE BEST! I WILL KEEP IT FOREVER! AND IF I END UP IN A FILTHY SAFEROOM, MY BODY TRAPPED IN HORRIBLE PAIN DUE TO BEING TRAPPED IN A FUCKING BUNNY SUIT, I´LL STILL HAVE IT WITH ME!”  
“That was… oddly specific.”  
“Well, Phoney tried that once, I think…”  
Mike gave his friend a questioning look. But since they were now officially partners, as well as the man having downed quite an amount of alcohol already, he only shrugged. “Can you blame me?”  
“No, I just wanted to say that I admire your creativity.”  
“Naturally! We Phone-Men are talented at getting rid of unwanted things!”  
“OH, OH, A NEW ACCESSORY FOR MY HAIR! NEAT!” Purple Guy dangled a black hair tie, with a small, probably plastic black rose on it.  
The rude Guard made a dismissive noise. “I found it laying on the ground.”  
“But you cleaned it!”  
“I´m not a monster.”  
“You´re lovely! NEXT!” In a split second, the next gift was in his hands. It was an old looking movie, with the depiction of a half-hidden monster on it. The expression of the receiver of this gift was somewhat… tense. “Uh… there aren´t any loud noises in that, are there?”  
“Oh, sorry, I don´t know! I kinda just thought you might like these kinds of things, I´m a little too scared to watch them myself…” The sad boy basically deflated on the spot, making Old Sport shooting a dirty look at his friend.  
“No, no, no, it´s… nice! Thanks, I´ll watch it as soon as possible! Whatever, let´s go on to next now!” As quickly as possible the next paper was devoured on the spot, leaving nothing but a book. It was called: “10 ways to tell if the world were better off without you” It was apparently written by “le téléphone homme” and Old Sport guessed that it was some kind of synonym, but couldn´t tell for what.  
“Eh… trash.” It was devoured as well. Now full and satisfied, he curled up next to Old Sport, not interested anymore in anything else.  
Jeremy shyly nudged Mike. “Do you mind if I…?”  
“Nah, I´d rather never open whatever abomination you guys laid under the tree for me, so go ahead.”  
Smiling kindly, Jeremy began to open them one by one. “Don´t tell me who gifted it, I want to guess!”  
The puppet wrapped himself around him, protectively, as the young Guard took a look at what he got.  
It were…  
A folder, filled with photos! There were spaces left empty, for his own chosen memories!  
A little Freddie-plushie! How adorable!  
A lucky charm! Wrapped around some blue papers! Always lovely to have!  
And a music box! With a beautiful melody!  
Amazed Jeremy marveled at these beautiful things. “I really can´t tell who got me what, they are all so awesome! Okay, okay, I´ll try… the music box was either Mr. Phone Guy or Mike, but I guess it´s Mike, since you still don´t trust my new friend.”  
“Yep.”  
“Good… the Plushie is from Mr. Phone Guy, it´s his franchise after all!”  
“No, I got you the album… even though I have to remind you to never make pictures of anything that could incriminate us, alright?”  
“Of course, sir! Well, I failed at that, but at least only two more to go… uh… the Freddy-plush is from Old Sport and the lucky charm is from Dave!”  
The colorful Guards applauded. “Spot on!”  
Mike only frowned. Since when were they calling the Purple Guy Dave?  
It probably didn´t matter.  
Curiously the boy unwrapped the papers as well, studying what was on there. His question mark turned into three exclamation marks as he read the top. “These are blueprints for an animatronic! Jeremy the Jay?! Is this… is this supposed to be me?!”  
Dave laughed. “YES! So you will stay with us forever, I´m making an animatronic out of you!”  
Petrified Mike stopped breathing and simply watched as the puppet rose up and moved towards the psycho, its face contorted and somewhat twitching. However, the (not really) human stopped him with one simple sentence.  
“You know you want it too.”  
The machine stopped revealing its claws, whispering something Mike couldn´t quite catch.  
“So you´d rather see him dead…?”  
“Dead?!” Jeremy perked up, slightly frightened by the way his two friends interacted.  
“Deadly disappointed! So sad that you won´t even stand up again! Your friend here said that gifting you an animatronic would be in… poor taste. But I think he´s just being a bitch.” Grinning brightly, the Purple Guy nodded to himself. “And I didn´t finish it yet anyway, so we can decide when it´s time.”  
“Why would I say no to an animatronic that is like me?”  
“I would argue the same! Marionette has a problem with the bad parts of being an animatronic, for example the yiffs and the bites, but you would never do that, so Jeremy the Jay would be save.”  
“Totally right! Don´t be the scared Marion, Dave knows what he is doing! He gave all of you a voice after all!”  
Jeremy may wanted to give everyone a hug, but the puppet was somewhat in the way. Definitely intended.  
Everyone was now waiting for Mike to get his stuff.  
Mike wasn´t ready to go through hell though. “Someone else can have it.”  
They protested, even the animatronics, who didn´t pay any attention were distraught. As now the ghost joined in as well, Mike caved in.  
“FUCKING FINE, YOU FUCKWITS. If it´s a massive fucking disappointed like everything else in my life, you can sort it out by yourself.” Aggressive he picked up the last boxes. “Okay. Do I start with the fine stuff and THEN ruin my day? Sounds like a plan. Best things first.”  
The man picked up two of them, the one from Jeremy and the one of Simon.  
The first contained a scented candle, which was supposed to calm people down, at least that was what Jeremy explained happily.  
The second one had a big, heavy flashlight in it. Apparently even with extra metal protection.  
“It MAY or may not is able to beat a grown man into a pulp, BUT… it´s JUST a flashlight, so no one can really bother you because of that.”  
In silent appreciation Mike nodded, but this positive feeling was crushed by the excitement he could see with Dave and Old Sport as they waited for him to open the last gifts.  
Maybe it would be better if he just closed his eyes and got it over with.  
But he wasn´t a pussy.  
Purple Guy´s present was cocaine. Quite a lot of it actually.  
“You always look so down, so I thought you´d might like a little something against that.”  
“I´m tripping out without help, thank you very much.”  
“Nagging, nagging, nagging, all day, all night! Just fucking sell it and get rich for all I care!”  
Mike blinked utterly dumbfounded. “Yeah… why didn´t I do that yet?!”  
“Because selling this would mean to fuel someone´s harmful addiction! And Mike is far too softhearted to do such a horrible thing!”  
Of course Jeremy had to ruin this nice solution to all of Mike´s problems.  
“Yeah… right…” Sighing he checked out the last thing.  
For a minute he processed what was now in his possession.  
No one said a word.  
Old Sport started to grin. “C´mon, it would look cute!”  
It was a weird servant-outfit. Maid outfit, if Mike remembered his experience with the internet right.  
“Alright, that was the last straw.” The man lunged at his co-worker, strangling him with the dress.  
The others didn´t really feel the need to intervene, after all Old Sport knew the risks. Five minutes later, it calmed down, the ripped fabric was left on the not-corpse.  
“I hate the holidays.”  
“It wasn´t all bad, right? Focus more on the positive.” Despite the scorn that should be present in those words, they came out rather affectionate.  
“Focus more on fucking yourself.”  
They rolled their eyes at each other, smiling a little.  
The darkness was sticking onto the windows and slowly the Marionette began to become uncomfortable.  
Shouldn´t we… leave?  
“But why, dear Marion?! We´re having a great time!”  
Well, the children might be a little more… irritable, now that it´s Christmas.  
“One more reason to stay! The kids will be happy to finally spend their holidays with someone else for a change!”  
Slowly the Marionette floated back and forth, thinking, but staying quiet. Seeing as he wasn´t paying attention to them, they didn´t even ask him if he wanted to join the board games they set up.  
As Mike now lied in the background, snoring, the others decided it would be time for the B O A R D G A M E S! Magical as always.  
So, they played four-people/animatronic games, until all of a sudden Freddy threw his cards away. “I HATE this game.”  
Chica rolled her eyes. “Just because you´re losing all the time! B*tch.”  
“I always hated this hellish game. I hated to play it with my old relatives and I hate to play it with Guards.”  
Foxy nervously tried to keep his hook calm and kept looking back and forth. “G-guys…? Should we…? You know…?” He signed at the Guards around them.  
Bonnie shrugged. “Nah, it´s Christmas.”  
Freddy furrowed his brows as he noticed the Marionette. “Oh hey, BOSS. Long time no see.”  
Hello, Freddy.  
“No mention of anything? I see you´re out of your box! HOW ABOUT KILLING THEM?”  
… It is Christmas.  
“OH, CHRISTMAS YOU SAY?! IT`S BEEN CHRISTMAS TWENTY TIMES ALREADY. Why aren´t you attacking?!”  
…  
“What? Did you LIE to us?”  
I never did.  
“AHA! Then… you wouldn´t mind, right? Let´s do it!”  
Both groups were now looking at the fragile machine, waiting for the side it would take. Jeremy made a step forward, smiling. “How about we calm them?”  
In a flash the thing wrapped itself around Jeremy´s head, making him stumble around. “W-what are you doing?”  
Go on, children.  
Old Sport tried to spat on the ground like a tough guy, failed misery and gave up. “I have another good reason! Don´t attack us, because WE!” The man sprinted over and shoved Mike of his bench. “HAVE A MIKE! He can take on five of you by HIMSELF! I`VE SEEN IT! And together with my help, we can RULE THE WORLD!”  
Growling irritated, the Guard slowly rose. “I´d rather see you die. I´d even kill you myself right now.”  
“Employee… you do know that the old models are quite a lot sturdier?”  
“Whatever, we are five against… I mean, we´re four against four, it will be a CAKEWALK! I´M READY TO RUMBLE!”  
Phone Guy sighed and sat down, next to Mike. “Go and have fun, employee. I´ll have another drink.”  
Foxy stood up, glitching out. “I want to go home, even if it means killing. I want to go home, I want to go home, HOME, HoME WANT to GO HOME HOME HOME my h-home I WANT WANT WANT TO GOooOOOO!”  
The monster began stepping forward, twitching, eying his potential targets. Once he saw Mike, he began clicking. “Y-YOU! DiDn`T I tell you ThAT I`M NO P-PIRATE?! WhyYY dIND`T yOu HELP ME?!”  
Unbelieving Mike couldn´t do anything as the fox began to charge towards him, the maw open wide and ready to swallow him whole, as the screech echoed through the halls.  
Surprisingly that wasn´t the loudest noise in the moment.  
Phone Guy´s fist bashing onto the table, together with his scream was so much louder.  
“NO RUNNING IN THIS RESTAURANT!” Foxy almost tripped over himself, as he tried to stop. “DIDN´T YOU READ THE GOSH DARN RULES?!”  
“N-no, sir…”  
“WHY? You know I can throw you out for breaking the rules, right?”  
“Please don´t, sir, I h-have nowhere else to go!”  
The Phone Guy sat back down, shaking his head. “I´m not cruel… but listen, we have a party here. A party you´re explicitly invited to! But we can´t keep you around, if you misbehave like this! I´m the manager, I have to make the decisions and I would LIKE to decide that you all can stay.”  
Sniffling the poor animatronic hugged itself, prompting the Head-Guard to stand up, hug him and pet his back. “There, there, it´s alright. Hey, I have a little present for you!” With that he stood up and went towards the tree again, revealing that the gifts that were appearing as if they were only decoration had actually something inside. “That goes for your friends too! But with you Freddy… I think trying to kill your boss gets you on the naughty list…”  
“WHAT? I- I mean, who cares! I don´t need a stupid present!”  
Foxy had already ripped his open and found a brand new hook and eyepatch in a shiny golden color inside.  
“You don´t have to keep it if you don´t like it, we could order something else…”  
“Thank you… captain…” Smiling weakly, the Foxy put on the new items. “Sorry for freaking out so much…”  
Bonnie came closer and claimed his own present. “Oh, sweet, a new guitar! It looks cool, thank you mister!”  
Chica grinned at her new cupcake. “I have a feeling that it isn´t just a change of color… what is it?”  
“A camera and you can easily use it to hold real cupcakes that you can give to the kids… or eat them yourself.”  
Freddy made some unpleasant notes. “SO YOU ALL JUST DON´T CARE?! SOME PRESENTS AND EVERYTHING IS FINE? THIS IS OUR CHANCE! WE CAN BE FREE NOW!”  
“How should we fight against four of them at once? As well as I don´t believe in this anymore. We will never leave. Just accept it.”  
NO! We- I will find a way!  
They all turned towards the puppet that had watched closely the whole time, still wrapped around the young Guards face. Bonnie stepped closer until they were on eyelevel.  
“I think you´re a filthy liar. No matter who we killed, nothing happened. No freedom. And now you´re sitting here, together with the people you ordered us to kill, all relaxed and friendly, despite them being the key to our freedom. Something smells fishy and it isn´t our tuna pizza. Give us one good reason to attack.”  
Don´t you SEE! It is your killer! YOUR KILLER IS SITTING RIGHT THERE, MUNCHING SOME COOKIES!  
Bonnie turned to look at Dave and began to laugh frantically. “It is?! REALLY?! Are you sure this time?! You told us that quite a lot about the most different Guards! But that isn´t even the funny part… do you know what the FUNNY part is?! I DON´T EVEN REMEMBER HIS FACE. I WAS KILLED BY A MAN, WHO´S FACE I DON´T EVEN RECOLLECT ANYMORE, IT´S BEEN SO LONG! You keep telling us that our murderer is the reason we´re here, but every night I have to doubt it more and more. After I died and woke back up, I didn´t see the same face I saw before closing them for the presumed last time. No. What I saw wasn´t a monstrous human. It was your face. Your smug grin. Your shitty plan. It was YOU.”  
Slowly teeth extended out of the laughing mouth of the plastic mask.  
This hardly matters. You will never get out of here if you continue with this mindset.  
“Yes, puppet. We will never get out of here. And I will never know who´s fault that is. But if I don´t move on, I´ll go just as insane as you and that isn´t worth it.”  
I AM NOT INSANE.  
“SURE about that? You floating, creepy bastard, who somehow can see everything while being stuck in a box! I shudder whenever you come close to me! You´re rotting and rotting in another way than we do after all this time. Your body looks pristine, but I can see there´s something terrible wrong with you! Look at your teeth! YOU SHOULDN`T HAVE TEETH. You´re older than all of us and you rotted over the point of humanity.”  
I was never human.  
“LIAR! SICK, DISGUSTING LIAR! Whatever, I´m happy you finally fucked off! Stay away from me and my friends. Stay away from this place, so we can at least TRY to find some happiness!”  
Angry the supernatural monster floated upwards, staying firmly connected to his friend, but still managing to gain twice his size.  
You never knew how to deal with gifts and chances. You ungrateful bastard. But I will tell you something… what you think does not matter anymore. Jeremy gave me a present as well. There is a little bit of me in your body. In all your bodies. And now I decide what you do. ATTACK.  
It extended his arms to both sides, thin, dark lines oozed out of his fingertips and connecting to the animatronics who stepped back, but were surrounded.  
Yet, somehow nothing happened.  
I… Jeremy… did not connect them. How? This is a blatant mistake…  
Chica chuckled. “Playing all high and mighty, I see. You´re an asshole. Stop embarrassing yourself!”  
I… YOU BRATS!  
Mike wanted to step in between the fight, annoyed beyond the point of irritation, but all of a sudden the Marionette moved forwards and something hit him, breaking, splitting his mind apart.  
Inside of a suit, they kept him inside, he was bleeding, he couldn´t breathe, GET OUT, HE NEEDED TO GET OUT! There he stood, black eyes, black smile, watching him DIE, no, still breathing he was BREATHING, stand up, STAND UP and ATTACK, HE NEEDED TO END HIM, BEFORE HE DIED, HE COULDN`T DIE, not now, the body was getting colder, standing, he was now standing, stepping to the smugly grinning man, wouldn´t be smug if I rip his throat open, ending it, ending it all-  
“Mike, Mike, what are you doing?!”  
Phasing in and out, they stood before him, PG was trying to touch him, DON´T TOUCH ME, I´m bleeding, no, those words wouldn´t come out, his jaw was locked with metal spikes, the more he tried to move, the deeper the metal cut, metal, metal in his body…  
The animatronics were glitching on the spot as well, fighting against an instinct, an instinct to fight, KILL, RUN AND ESCAPE, GET OUT, GET OUT, THE BODY WAS GETTING SO TIRED…  
Now someone was touching him, it was the monster, checking his breath, forcing him deeper into the spikes, no it was his friend, trying to calm him, it was so loud, so loud, don´t dare coming closer, I will kill you, I will kill you for what you´ve done…  
“Please, come back to us, what´s going on!?”  
If he died now, the man would kill more, test, test, you´re nothing but a test, more will follow, protect them, help them, SAVE them, KILL, KILL HIM…  
“Puppet, if don´t stop right now, you will regret this. I say this in my power not only as manager of this pizzeria, I say this in my power as his friend.”  
The pain slowly decreased, reality slowly seeped back as he regained some sanity. Phone Guy was holding him close, preventing him from falling.  
The puppet had slung himself around Jeremy again, his eyes brightly lit.  
Never dare to call me a joke ever again. This was only a taste of my capabilities.  
Old Sport sighed, disappointed. “Thus, the party was ruined.”  
One more word and I will slit your body open from the ground to the base of your chin.  
“Oho! But wouldn´t you need to leave Jeremy for that? And you wouldn´t want to traumatize him now, wouldn´t you? Became pretty soft, didn´t you?”  
I…  
“Go on, leave him. Let´s TALK with him and see what he thinks!”  
I do not fear his reaction. I do not care about him more than I care about my mission.  
“Prove it.”  
Calmly the Marionette unwound itself from Jeremy and floated away. The poor, confused guy rubbed his eyes.  
“What was going on?! I couldn´t hear anything!”  
“Nothing much, your friend only tried to kill us all.”  
“What?! Bummer. I thought he was doing better.”  
“BUMMER?! YOU CALL HIM ALMOST KILLING US A BUMMER?!”  
“Well, I knew he would try it eventually… but I hoped it wouldn´t happen so soon.”  
You… knew?!  
“Of course!” Yawning, the young man straightened his hat and raised to his full height. “I´m not stupid. No matter what people say, I´m neither an idiot, nor unobservant! I didn´t put the screws in for a reason. Fazebear entertainment, the one who used Freddy, Chica, Bonnie and Foxy for the first time, didn´t open until roughly 1980, because until then, it was called Fredbear´s family dinner. Now, why was it forced to close and bought out? Because the incident with Fredbear. Not even today is anyone allowed back into the building, because of Fredbear. They did a good job on covering it up, but I found some evidence… so, what has that to do with me knowing your intention and not falling for your lie? Well, let´s go back to Fredbear´s family diner. Up until its zenith, 1974, where they introduced brand new animatronics, it was a business as every other. So, what happened shortly after? I searched for old newspaper in archives of the city. I especially looked at the job section… after the introduction, suddenly the frequency of job offers increased by a billion. Someone was killing the guards. You told me yourself you were here until the beginning. You were the guard-killer, since the day you possessed… whatever it was.”  
In utter shock they all stared at him. Jeremy grinned.  
“But not only do I know that! I know one thing more!” Dramatic he pointed at his friend. “YOU KILLED THE KIDS!”  
“What the fuck?!”  
Excuse me!?  
“Oh, good, I almost took Jeremy serious for a second… that was close!”  
“I HAVE A THEORY! After you died the cruel death of being dismissed by the adults in the building, you began hating them with a passion strong enough to overpower death! But, it wasn´t enough. A kid on his own can get lonely, no kid should be forced to be isolated like that… seeing the other kids leave for the night filled you with envy and contempt! Understandable, but still a dangerous mixture. One day it was simply too much. You lured the kids away and killed them, the same way you died, in hope of getting the same result. It´s obvious that it was you, because how else could there be no real evidence against the suspect? The bodies were never found, because you stuffed them away in a place you knew they wouldn´t look, because the killer would never have the time to hide them there! As the kids woke up, you filled their heads with lies, fearing they would leave or isolate you! You made them join your crusade against the adults you perceived as the enemy. Now that you´re gone out of the pizzeria for a while, they don´t have the burning hate anymore that you provided and so they began to test the “enemy”, to see how evil they truly are. Not at all, of course, they became friends, making you afraid once again. What if they didn´t understand you anymore? Hate you?! Then I came along, giving you a solution. If a part of you was connected with the others, you would feel what each other feel and you could make them join your side again.”  
No one even moved.  
Then Phone Guy poured himself another shot. “Great work, Jeremy.”  
“You think so, sir?!”  
I mean… it wasn´t totally wrong… just… very wrong.  
“At least it was a nice story!”  
“Yeah, entertaining nonetheless!”  
The other Guards were nodding among each other, trying to find the right words. Jeremy on the other side was breaking down.  
“You mean I´m WRONG?! I put so much effort into my research! A-at least I´m right when I said you wanted the link to kill people, right?!” Panicked he looked at the Puppet, who slowly floated downwards.  
Yes… I admit it.  
“Phew… it would have been awkward if you actually just wanted to help, I would feel horrible for not doing as you asked.”  
Wait, you lied to me!  
“I promised you to help you doing good! And I will! Forever! But killing more people isn´t good, so I decided to talk about it with you first.”  
When were you going to tell me?  
“After Christmas, because I wanted to relax with you!” Friendly smiling, the boy took his hand. “You aren´t angry with me, are you? Would be kinda hypocritical…”  
Dave had finished his plates with sweets and leaned back. “Am I the only person here who didn´t lie to my friend?”  
Old Sport frowned. “Hey, I never lied to you either!”  
“Okay, are we two the only honest people around here?”  
Awkward silence ensued.  
“Well, whatever, Christmas is over now anyway.” Mike stood up, angry. “Who takes the nightshift?”  
The animatronics murmured. “As long as the puppet stays out of here, we´re fine on our own.”  
“Surprisingly, I don´t fucking believe you. I will stay here.”  
“I will stay with you.”  
Annoyed Mike ignored PG. “Now leave, Jeremy, take your piece of shit of a friend with you. Dave and Orange, go and suck each other off, I don´t care. Just leave.”  
Everyone, either too tired or too frightened to argue, left, even the animatronics went towards the tree, sitting around it and peacefully watching it. Freddy was surprised as the human boss gave him his present, but didn´t say anything. A new soft bowtie and a top hat with a golden stripe were inside.  
Phone Guy had stayed close to Mike, accompanying him into the office, silently muttering under his breath. “Better than last year at least… it was somewhat fun.”  
“Yeah. It wasn´t as bad as lying in bed and hating the world.”  
A second his boss maybe wanted to say something, but he simply tilted his head (smiling as Mike felt confident to assume) and sat down next to him, telling him weird stories of customers.  
And covering him with the blanket after he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn´t mean this to escalate so much and I´m sincerely sorry for probably ruining a wholesome Christmas. I hope you enjoyed despite that! If you think I should be more careful with the atmosphere and keep happy things happy, then I´ll listen to you…  
> Comments are all I need for a great Christmas, so if you feel like it, I´d love to hear your impression of the last chapters! °D°  
> Wishing you all the best gifts and great food! Enjoy your days!  
> (Oh and it goes without saying that there´s going to be a chapter on New Year, right?)


	17. New Year´s eve!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the truth about it,  
> You´ll learn to never doubt it,  
> The whole affair is shrouded  
> In living mystery!  
> So what goes on in your tree,  
> When all you know is your evil shadow has a cup of tea?
> 
> Lemon demon – Your evil shadow has a cup of tea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the first time I wrote this, it ended in death and panic, but I decided that I shouldn´t do that, since I didn´t even finish the goddamn “Toy-arc” (Toy-mission? Toy-salvation?!). Think it´s a whole lot cuter now!  
> The song above is actually one of my favorites. It´s so mysterious and funky! But not many people share my taste in music ^^” (Understandably)

Phone Guy felt light. Happy. Finally complete.  
He had told his employees that they were free to come and go whenever they pleased for New Year.  
They were all here since twelve o´clock and haven´t left once, except for Jeremy who had volunteered to buy something to eat for all of them.  
A year came to an end and it was time to write his reports on his workers. Humming he sat down on his computer and began to open the files where he kept his notes on his workers.  
Matt and Ronaldo did fine and he would write that down. The pizza improved and the prize corner… well, the prize corner was at least useful. Less lawsuits about traumatization than last year at least.  
Jeremy Fitzgerald got top marks. A great employee, a great human being and despite needing careful guidance, he was a pleasure to work with.  
Old Sport joined late and… behaved. Still not be trusted around children, unstable, but fairly easy to handle. Has bad manners with children, but works willingly in springlock-suits.  
Vincent, now rather called Dave Miller again, improved revenue and robots, balancing out his destructive nature. Not to be trusted around children, Old Sport possibly a positive influence. If we can´t keep them apart, we have to use them against each other.  
Mike Schmidt… signed contract number four. Good morals, bad manners. Determined nature again and again shows itself to be a blessing.  
Pausing he stared at his screen. Could he write more without losing his neutrality…?  
“Simon.”  
Phone Guy almost threw over his computer, as he jumped up. “Mike? W-what is it?”  
“I think it´s time to talk.”  
“Please, it´s New Year and we have to keep an eye on the others…”  
“The puppet is doing a good job with that. I´m getting impatient, you used your “but it´s day x” excuse far too often in this month. We will start the next year with the truth.”  
“Oh, so you´re ready to tell me about yourself?”  
“Forcing each other to reveal our secrets, since we can´t bring ourselves to tell the truth on our own… I´m ready, but you will start. Simon?”  
Slowly PG sat back down, trying to hide his shaking hands by clenching his fist. “Simon… is a name.”  
“No fucking shit, Sherlock.”  
“My name. Maybe. I… I can´t tell. I´m the Phone Guy, I work here since 1979 as Fredbear´s Family Diner was sold and rebranded. I… remember clearly that I signed the red contract. Restaurants closed and opened, but I was in every single one of them. Somehow. I don´t know… they expect me to believe that. They let me know about the factory I wake up every time a restaurant needs a boss. They fill my head with memories. I remember working with Old Sport, I remember Dave. In both locations. They tell me I have a wife and two kids and I DO remember that. The kids sometimes wander around here, get bitten for fun, ask me when I start to pay my alimony and well… keeping an illusion up. As if I´m stupid. I KNOW that springlocked worker get send to the factory. They make them into something useful again.”  
Mike silently listened to his friend getting more and more agitated.  
“There are things in my head that don´t add up. I remember… having a boss once. With a Phone-head, just like me. I remember preforming in a suit, which would be impossible for someone with the size of my Phone. I remember performing for… my brother? I don´t know anymore, I only know that I always worried about him. I don´t know why. He called me Simon. Simon, he said, I feel so tired. I want to go home. But for some reason I always pleaded for him to stay. He didn´t always, but the times he did were enough.” Laughing, or rather coughing, Phone Guy rested his arms on the table. “Then, it happened. One day, it was rainy. That´s all I remember. The sound of rain. And words, people talking down to me. We´ll see each other soon, alrighty? Afterwards, the manager: Maybe you will learn to forgive me. One day. I´m sorry it has to be this way, but that´s… the joy of creation.”  
Now Mike jolted up, a prickling sensation in the back of his mind. He´d heard that before. On his first day, his purple co-worker in front of him, talking as if crazed by an unseen force, while nausea infected every fiber of his being.  
Instead, let´s teach them about the JOY OF CREA-  
Creation.  
“What is the joy of creation?”  
“If I knew, I might understand all of this insanity. But I don´t.”  
“Vinc- Dave once mentioned it.”  
“Well, he has been with the chain for the longest.”  
Mike tapped with his knuckles on the table. “So, you think Simon is your real name?”  
“… I don´t know. But those memories… what if it´s just a trick?! What if they installed those memories, to test my behavior? To check if I´m getting unreliable?!”  
“Who are they?”  
“The higher-ups. The people who control the factory, the people who control Freddy´s. I never met them personally.”  
“PG, those memories aren´t a trap. That is your real name, your reaction says it all.”  
“But, what if those reaction are just there, because the memories are there?!”  
“We should go and look for your brother! If he exists, your memories are real.”  
“I´m legally not allowed to leave this place!”  
“I could do it!”  
“Why would you?”  
“To help you.”  
Simon stood up and paced around the small office. “I don´t remember his name. I don´t even remember my own last name! The only way I could try to remember is by screwing open my Phone-head with the thing that Dave gave me and I´m ninety percent sure that it would kill me.”  
“No. I disagree.”  
“What?!”  
“Fuck, if we can give him ONE thing, then it´s that he´s fucking honest. He screws with us by making us think he´s unreliable and uses that to give us easy solution we don´t take, to make us feel useless and stupid.”  
“What if this time he actually just wants to kill me?”  
“Why would he?”  
“HE`S A PSYCHOPATH, MIKE.”  
“Not in that regard. He´s a child, Simon.”  
“Great, Mike the psychologist strikes again. How´d you know?”  
“Listen up, you metal cunt, if I know ONE thing, then it´s how children think and act! No matter how petty, they always have an explanation for their behavior. I´ve had to deal with kids NONSTOP, FOR THE LAST MONTH.”  
“Mind to explain? You usually just stare at them from across the hall and tell them to fuck of when they come to close.”  
“So… this is one of my secrets.” Uncomfortable Mike shifted his position. “I see dead people.”  
Phone Guy was sure he heard that already somewhere else. Nevermind. “It´s not unheard of…”  
“Well, I can´t guarantee that I´m not turning slowly insane, but I´m pretty sure it´s the real deal. Five children, who say that they possessed the Toy-Animatronics suddenly appeared in my flat. They asked for my help to be freed.”  
“What… what are their names?”  
“Gary, Richard, Tom, Suzy and Sally. I don´t know their last names.”  
“That´s… them.”  
“You know them?”  
“I had to take care of their parents. Nonstop they cried; Suzy, my little Suzy, where is she, Sally, are you sure you haven´t heard of Sally, Tom was always a good boy, he would never run away…”  
“Sounds awful…”  
“It was. So that was what you were screaming at? The children? Are they… here…?”  
“Yes.”  
Slightly scared Phone Guy looked around, as if he expected to see them now that he knew about them. “But they… they hear me, right?”  
Mike paused and tilted his head, listening intensely. “To say it in Suzy´s words: We are dead, not retarded, you stupid idiot.”  
“Wow, she´s a charmer…”  
“Always been.”  
“If they hear me I… I want to say sorry. I´m sorry for their deaths, I´m sorry that my foolish negligence caused them this cruel and pointless fate. I wish I could have prevented it, I wish I could at least have been the one to atone for those mistakes. But I´m happy that you found your way to Mike. You couldn´t have wished for any better caretaker.”  
In the face of his friend was one of his rare, small, genuine smiles. “Fucking dim-wit, as if. They say thank you and want to tell you that I abused them and never bought them food and that my stories suck and that…” Mike stopped and growled suddenly embarrassed. “… And nothing. Fuck you guys.”  
PG snickered. “I always knew you are better with kids than you show. Telling them to fuck themselves is an underappreciated education practice.”  
“Well, that also was the reason I asked you to delete your PRON. Sally, the Toy Chica needed it to be freed.”  
“OH. Oh, I´m so sorry, Sally, I swear, I never even looked at it, it was preinstalled for some reason-”  
“Shut up. Her words, not mine. I think she just wants to forget about it, she isn´t mad. Now, moving on, I wanted to ask you about your “kill count”, so to speak.”  
“Well, seeing as my memories are pretty fucked up, by design and years of abuse, I can only say… uh… I springlocked employees who talked bad about me, made puns, mentioned the incidents, yiffed the robots (if they did it in the suit) and uh… made bad music. Then of course, I regularly framed innocent and guilty Guards for whatever happened to keep the business running, I willfully ignored justice for the kids and sealed up evidence. That´s just next to the fact that I hire people and basically kill them by proxy.”  
“You´re a fucking HORRIBLE person!”  
“There´s a reason why I didn´t want to tell you! And I even told you not to care about me.”  
“I guess. You… comparing you to the others employees, you´re still less creepy.”  
“Naturally…! My turn: What´s the deal with your scars?”  
Now the Guard leaned back, smirking cynically. “Yeah, what´s the deal? Buckle in, this is gonna be a long one. When I was eight I told the kids around me that I was bitten by Freddy. When I was fourteen I told them that I stopped a robbery and got shot, surviving barely. When I was seventeen I told them I had a sport-accident while being on a nifty vacation.”  
Tense Phone Guy leaned forward. “And? The truth?”  
“I don´t know. I think my father did it to me. Or maybe I did it to myself. It was a year after my mother was diagnosed with… a sickness. She was in the hospital for longer and longer, the bills were stacking up. Whenever I sneaked into my parent’s room, there were papers EVERYWHERE, with big numbers on it. Needless to say that neither I nor my dad took it very well. I broke out of home, misbehaved and all that shit. One day I woke up in the hospital, remembering nothing, but a particularly bad day. My father refused to explain anything. Suspicious, right? Well, the thing that I was ALLOWED to know, was that whatever it was, caused serious damage to my head. I think some part of my skull broke, or something. They put me back together with screws and I think they even had to replace one of the skull-plates. Took the best professionals to not kill me.”  
“But… how did you pay for that?”  
“Ah, I see you paid attention like you never paid alimony.”  
“MIKE, I LITERALLY CAN´T!”  
“Answer is: I couldn´t. The only reason why I´m still around, is because the award winning scientist and surgeon, Doctor Deern, choose me to be his pet-project. My father and later I agreed to test his medicine and be subject to different tests on a regular. Not that we really had a choice. These pills…” He took them out of his pocket and put them on the table. “… Aren´t even proven to be safe. They aren´t right out poisonous… in small dosages. He told me the medicine couldn´t be tested on anything else beforehand, I was a pioneer and should be proud. Proud! What a fuckhead. But, well, I shouldn´t be alive anyway. They are supposed to keep my hallucinations and anger issues under control.”  
“With limited success?”  
“… not even.” Frowning Mike inspected his bottle. “I just noticed… something. They also stop me from seeing the ghosts. That´s… actually pretty odd when I think about it.”  
“Why…? Well, I mean, if you sometimes see things, which others can´t perceive…?”  
“No, I´m actually hallucinating. Really. People talking to me, being suddenly somewhere else, interacting with objects that aren´t there…”  
“Maybe it isn´t really connected… what if it just shuts down you hyperactive senses, no matter if they show you the truth or not?”  
“Maybe. Whatever, I sure ain´t going to tell him next month “Doc, my prescription prevent me from seeing ghosts”, or I might get send into the asylum.”  
“As long as it doesn´t harm you…?”  
“The ghosts are pretty useful, for I example I can ask them-” Mike looked around. “Wait, where the fuck did they go?!”  
They left the office and entered hell.  
Old Sport was dancing on one of stages, wearing a tutu and the Freddy-mask, his own animatronic on his head, carrying two torches and was howling like a maniac.  
“CAUSE BABY YOU´RE A FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIREEEEEEEEEEEEEWORK! COME ON LET YOUR COLORS BURST!”  
Everyone, including Mike, was paralyzed in a mixture of shock and awe. The ghost-children were whispering among each other, he was pretty sure they discussed if they were allowed to be impressed by their killer and if they could cheer or better not.  
Poor Simon rushed up and tried to doge the fire. “OLD SPORT, YOU MOTHERHECKER, YOU CAN´T DO THAT! THE FIREHAZARD!”  
“I AM THE FIRELORD!”  
“YOU`RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!”  
“IF MY GOD CHOSES TO PUNISH YOU, HE´S RIGHT! ACCEPT YOUR FATE!”  
“HAND THEM OVER!”  
“NEVER! WE HAVE TO CLENSE THE EVIL SPIRITS!”  
“THE ONLY EVIL SPIRIT IN HERE IS YOU!”  
Dave smiled, completely glad. “Phoney, calm down! You can´t contain all of that talent!”  
Minireena loyally jumped onto the face of the nagging man, obscuring his vision. “Get your… THING off me!”  
“Excuse me, it´s Alice!”  
The giggling of the girl didn´t stop even after Phone Guy removed her forcefully. “Would you please stop laughing, I feel like I go insane.”  
“You went insane a LONG time ago.” Old Sport handed him the burning torches, to hug his little girl. “Come here, Alice! Let´s go outside and fire some missiles! That´s what you´re supposed to do on New Year´s right?”  
“Nah, you´re supposed to use lead to predict your future!” Dave pulled out a bit of it, together with a spoon and a somehow burning candle.  
“Isn´t that poisonous?”  
“Yes.”  
“LET`S DO IT!”  
They went into the cold night, thankfully it wasn´t snowing though. Jeremy and the puppet had joined, ready to play along. Foxy also curiously peeked outside. “Arr, is it safe to go out? We won´t get shot at?”  
“Not today, Foxy-boy, we have free reign! Come on out, all of you! It´s time to celebrate!”  
Freddy immediately rushed out, “breathing” in air he hadn´t smelled in twenty years. Chica and Bonnie also joined, even though Bonnie kept his distance to the puppet.  
“Who wants to go first?!”  
“ME! AND MINIREENA!”  
They together slowly poured it into the snow on the ground. After two minutes they picked it up and looked at it.  
“It looks like a dick.”  
Seems as if your fate wants to tell you something.  
“Ah, shut it, puppet.”  
I´m only helping interpreting this sign.  
“You go next! Let´s see what fate wants to tell you!”  
I don´t believe in these pagan rituals.  
Jeremy actually looked annoyed for the first time. “It´s just harmless fun. Pull yourself together.” With that he accepted the molten lead and poured it down. “Uh, it´s a bird! Or a heart! No, rather a bird… or more of a hammer?”  
“Maybe it´s just a molten piece of lead.” Finally Mike had joined the party.  
“Wow, I think the dick was rather meant for you!”  
Dave grinned and poured his own fate, not even paying attention to the petty fighting going on in the background. “Look, I´ve got a knife! But the shadow looks more like a heart… Are you supposed to listen to the lead or its shadow?”  
Do you humans even know what the different motives mean?  
Everyone was silent.  
In that case, why are you doing this?  
“To pass some time…?”  
Please, let´s just get to the explosions.  
Old Sport crossed his arms and nodded in total agreement. “I hate that about New Years. Let´s make A REALLY BIG FIRE!”  
Dave just wanted to agree as he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. “You do that, I´ll be right back!”  
Where are you going?  
The Purple Man grinned brightly. “Follow me if you´re so curious…” Vanishing at the corner into the back alley, the machine decided to leave the body shortly, to make sure. He wrapped himself safely around his friend and stepped into the darkness.  
In front of William were… monster.  
It were animatronics, but they…  
They were disgustingly disfigured. The souls! They had teeth, their eyes glowed, tummy open, ready to swallow, all in purple, smiling, one of them was mashed together, eating itself!  
What had he DONE?!  
They turned. And smiled at him. “Who´s that, father?”  
FATHER.  
“Probably the puppet. He´s a curious cat!”  
“C-can I EAT h-him?!” The bigger one of the merged souls opened its jaw and almost reached for him, but the smaller, crying one stopped him. “Oh no Freddy! That is BAD! We don´t eat children´s souls in public!”  
“If you´re quick enough!” Chuckling the Purple Guy petted his fur. “But don´t go into the light. It´s nice of you to visit me!”  
“We wanted to start the first day of the brand new year together! We´re a family after all.”  
The Marionette had seen enough. This was getting bad, no it was worse, there were no words to describe how bad this was. He needed to end this, fast.  
If it wasn´t too late already.  
Broken souls.  
Tears. There were the tears again.  
Jeremy! Jeremy, Jeremy! We have to leave!  
“What…? What happened?”  
We have to get to the office, NOW.  
“Okay, okay!” Ignored by the others, they vanished back inside. “Could you explain to me what the problem is?”  
We have to free the others. Now. No revenge plan and as quickly as possible! They will be turned!  
“No worry! I´ll help you! As long as you don´t want to kill someone!”  
No killing! Believe me! We have to burn this place to the ground! That is the only way to free them! Their bodies keep them attached, without it they will be able to leave!  
“It´s that easy…? I will do it! As long as no one is inside of the building. But I thought we´d need the names of the kids and right now I´m not sure yet…”  
The puppet clutched his claws trying not to scream. It would be better that way, maybe they would even find a way to burn the monster alongside the children. There was simply no way in hell the sickness would seep into the cracks this quickly. But what if he was wrong?  
“Marion, let´s enjoy the evening for now. I´m sure they will like to see the show!”  
Defeated the machine calmed himself, trying not to freak out. There was simply no way William would just begin to kill everyone for no reason, right? And if… he wasn´t a kid anymore. He had his own tools to fight with.  
“QUICK, JEREMY, COME OUT HERE! WE`RE GONNA SUMMON SATAN!”  
“Don´t do that!” Shocked Jeremy left his friend and ran into the kid’s cove, where everything was set up by Dave and Old Sport. “That´s BAD!”  
“No it isn´t! Satan is only a fallen angle, no big deal! It´s Mike birthday, we have to come up with something GREAT! Mike likes the edgy stuff, he´ll be amazed! This is his kind of party!”  
Jeremy crocked his head, not really believing it. “Mike´s birthday…?”  
“If something goes wrong, we´ll just push him RIGHT BACK! Hundred percent guaranteed maybe safety! Or do you want to tell Mike you forgot his special day? If he knew you could have decided between summoning Satan and apologizing to him…”  
They boy frowned, but took the offered hands. “That in the middle…?” He recognized the black candles, the goat skulls and the signs, but the thing in the middle looked weird.  
“It´s a pentagram drawn with strawberry jam and memes.”  
And truthfully, it smelled sweet, was sticky and spelled things like “here comes dat boi satan!” or “summons satan to wish for domination of the planet in 2006 – dominates pluto”  
Were these… considered memes?  
They began chanting in an odd language, but Phone Guy materialized out of nothing, together with Mike.  
“NO SUMMONING SATAN BETWEEN MONDAYS TO SATURDAYS!” Righteous Phone Guy slapped both members of the chaotic duo on the back of their heads. Mike first nodded fiercely, but then processed what he just had heard.  
“Wait, you want to fucking say there´s a rule for this shit?!”  
“Well, of course, we can´t let our employees summon Satan any day of the week!”  
“WE CAN´T LET ANY-FUCKING-ONE SUMMON THAT DEVIL-FUCK AT ANY DAY OF THE YEAR!”  
“Yes. That´s why only Sun- and celebration days are allowed.”  
“But doesn´t that mean that he is actually allowed to do it right now?!”  
“No, since celebration days that are to be spent in the pizzeria are an exception.”  
“So, on a Sunday he could just wander in…?”  
“How do you think he is able to enter the establishment? Answer: He isn´t. Problem solved!”  
A cracking noise sounded and out of the small circle that emitted an aggressive red glow now, coming from a gap in reality. The young boy appeared quite unsure, while the Psychos grinned.  
Dave began screaming as loud as he could. “OH DARK ONE, LET THERE BE YOU´RE MIGHTY GLOW, TO BRING ME BACK WHAT´S MINE! I DEMAND BY ALL FIVE OF THE HORSEMEN, THE SHADOW DOGGO AND THE THIRTEEN RARE PEPES THE ETERNAL EXISTENCE OF MY CREATION AND-”  
That was the last part, because Mike had shoved him right into the dimensional crack.  
Jeremy looked at him with his confused puppy-eyes. Puppy-sign?  
“Happy Birthday…?”  
“The fuck?”  
“Dave told me we would prepare a birthday surprise for you, since we both forget that today is the day… I´m very sorry!”  
“FOR FUCKS SAKE JERRY, DOES THIS-” He flailed his arms at the skull and blood “- LOOK LIKE A BIRTHDAY PARTY TO YOU?!”  
“W-well, you ARE into edgy things…”  
“THERE IS A BLOODY LINE BETWEEN EDGY AND FUCKING SATANIC!”  
“Hah, literally!” Old Sport snickered.  
“For Foxy´s sake-” Phone Guy stomped his foot. “Where is he?! And will he clean that mess up himself?!” He looked at the unholy mess on the floor, the skulls and candles ruining the clean ground.  
“I kinda pushed him into hell.”  
“Oh. Well, nothing to worry about, I´m sure he will be fine. Jeremy! Since you obviously helped him, you will have to clean up all the candles! Same for you, Old Sport!”  
“Y-yes, sir!” Poor Jeremy was confused beyond belief. “Did we... actually open a portal?”  
“It´s New Year! The realms connect at these spots… neat, right?”  
“Did we kill Dave?!”  
“Oh no, I´m sure he has fun.” Old Sport was humming and cleaning the spots that needed care, not irritated in the slightest.  
After they finished, they were allowed to attend a short celebration of Dave´s “first day away” as they called it. Old Sport didn´t appear to enjoy it particularly, but accepted his glass.  
Right as they took their first sip of the champagne, the entranced opened. In there was a well-dressed man in a suit, with the Purple Guy over his shoulder.  
His gaze lied disapprovingly on Mike.  
“I hereby return your worker to his rightful place. I will strongly advise to not ever bring him anywhere close to my property, since the next time it will be seen as a deliberate attempt of sabotage and accordingly punished.”  
With those words he dropped him off and turned into dust.  
First they just stared at the slowly standing up man, then at each other and at last started to surround him. Right before Phone Guy wanted to touch him, Old Sport jumped on top of his friend, probably breaking his back.  
“HOW WAS YOUR FIRST LEGAL VACATION EVER?! I`M SO JEALOUS!”  
“It was great, Old Sport! I managed to eat three demons and almost bathed in the Styx! But as I started to strip for the succubois, I was thrown out.”  
“Aww, sound like Vegas! Too bad I couldn´t touch the portal quick enough…”  
“Next year we´ll go together!  
If Mike´s disapproval had physical weight, the X-men would call and ask him to join, because of this magical ability. They´d all be dead as well, because the weight would create a black hole and end the whole universe.  
“I wish you were tortured beyond insanity. Never fucking tell Jeremy lies again.”  
“Don´t blame me! You never told me your birthday and since you had to have your birthday ONE day this year, we chose to just celebrate it now! I even made you a cake!”  
“As if I´d eat anything you made.”  
“That´s one hell of an insult! The kids LOVE my cakes!” Shrugging Dave picked up the cake he had hidden under a stack of party hats. It was a giant cake, still warm enough to make the icing on top of it melt a bit. There were letters, made out of marzipan, which spelled out ´one year closer to death!´  
Jeremy immediately went up. “Can I have a piece?! Please?”  
Smugly grinning at the uncomfortable Marionette, who had just floated in, the Purple Guard cut a piece of and handed it over to the drooling boy, who laughed brightly and bit into it without hesitation.  
“IT´S GREAT!” Was what Jeremy probably wanted to say, but it was muffled into an “IWTSWAT!”  
Dave understood him anyway, smiling prideful. “Well, I´ve been working on these skills since I were nine! If I brought cake to school, I could bribe the other kids into playing with me. When I think about it, it hasn´t really changed since then.”  
“Waifu material, right there!” The words were on a thin line between joking and full on sarcastic, as Old Sport grabbed himself a slice to bite into.  
As even PG grabbed one, Mike growled. “So, you´re all just gonna trust him like that? He could drug us!”  
“Why?” The honest tone of Purple Guy´s voice set off the Guard´s balance. “Why would I?”  
“Because it´s fun?! Good god… alright, yeah, fuck you, let´s do this. Sit down here, fucker, we´re going to discuss this. WHY would you do that? WHY for example, hypothetically, not that I EVER would think that of you, but WHY would you kill children you fucked up piece of shit?”  
The smile of the psychopath brightened again. “Oho, I think I feel some hostility! Back me up on this one, Alice! Why would ANYONE chose to EVER end a child’s… existence?”  
Giggling and twirling, the small ballerina climbed off Old Sport and on the table, posing gracefully.  
“That´s a good argument, Alice! Thanks for the support!”  
Yet, before the Minireena could retreat, Mike grabbed her fragile body. “You can´t let him get away with this! This isn´t your body, this isn´t your family or friends, you have to fight-”  
All of a sudden he felt sharp teeth sinking into his flesh, despite the animatronic not even moving, and flinched. The light flickered around him.  
In the dark he could see her.  
A small girl, skin like porcelain, her tutu still intact, glass-like butterfly wings out of her back. Her face was the same shade of porcelain and looked plain dead, her golden locks rivaling with the golden glow in her otherwise black eyes.  
They were just as cold and artificial as the rest of her.  
She tilted her head and smiled an empty smile. Silence was crushing his ears until her little, thin voice broke it for a moment.  
“Why? This is me.”  
A hurricane of sound flooded his mind, words screamed and whispered and asked and begged and laughed and cried and all that was left it´s me, me, me, why is it me, me, why WHY WHYISME IT´SMEWHYWHYWHYWHYMEMEMEMEME!  
He reopened his eyes, laying on the floor, Jeremy´s and PG´s worried face hovering around the corner of his vision.  
In some distance he could make out Orange lecturing his kid. “Don´t just make Mikey spasm out! That´s dangerous! You´re supposed to behave when I take you outside!”  
She really pulled of the “I´m guilty and somewhat sorry, but in the end it was pretty fun, right?” laugh.  
Whatever that was what he had seen… it was more than a kid and less than a human.  
“Mike, please, do you hear me?!”  
“Fucking Phone-face, I´m not deaf!”  
Relieved his friend helped him up, tightening his grip for a second, before letting him go. “What happened?”  
“I´ll tell you… later. It´s complicated.” Restless Mike stood up and checked his surroundings, which haven´t changed much. Determined he grabbed himself a slice of cake and walked out. “We´ll see us in a minute, I´m off.”  
The shot and explosions were yet to start, but the anticipation had filled the night air. It was time.  
“Gary.” As soon as they were out of earshot, the Guard spoke. “We will get you out of here, before this year ends.”  
“U-uhm… how?”  
“You tell me! I have cake in case you want to celebrate something! Anyway, I won´t let you roam around this place, while that thing is here, this went on for long enough.”  
Helpless the boy fumbled with his mask. “The problem is… I want to hear how my parents are. But the others told me that it´s bad to think about my… previous existence. Still, I can´t get them out of my head! My mother, my father, my little sister…”  
While Mike couldn´t really understand his feelings, he still had an idea. “How about I call them? What´s the number of your home?”  
“I never could remember…”  
“For fuck´s sake, Gary, get your shit together.”  
“I´m sorry…”  
“Well, I´ll ask Simon, he should still know it, after all they were in… contact.”  
But before he could stand back up, the Phone-head wandered in. “Are you…”  
“Ah, there you are. Do you still have the number of Gary´s parents?”  
“Why…?”  
“I need to talk with them. Now.”  
“Mind to explain anything? What was that just now?!”  
“Something is wrong with Orange´s little puppet, but that isn´t the first thing I have to deal with. I´m so close to get rid- I mean free the souls of the children that were inside of the Toys. I only need to talk with Gary´s family.”  
Unsure his friend leaned over the computer, checking through some files. “Usually… we delete those numbers after closing down the establishment…”  
“Oh.”  
“But…” Some more clicks. “Maybe…”  
The pause stretched into eternity until Mike couldn´t wait any longer. “But?! But the fuck?! TELL ME!”  
The shoulder of the man sunk down. “No… there´s no more information on them. I don´t even remember their last names.”  
“HOW?! IT WAS JUST-”  
“Phone Guys aren´t supposed to dwell on the past. They take those “useless” memories and wipe them. It´s to save dataspace. The only reason I remember their actual names is just because I´ve couldn´t sleep for one night without thinking about them…”  
“The names of dead children and their families. Useless. This place is rotten to the core.”  
Sincerely depressed Simon sat down next to him, mirroring Gary´s posture to a T, despite not being able to see him.  
Mike clutched his fists, getting angrier and angrier by the hopeless atmosphere. “Stop whining, you little bitches, we´re going to find a way! For one; there have to be articles about that, children don´t just vanish without anyone caring. California, missing children, November 1987. Put that into the search-engine, PG, or I´ll do it myself and that could result in the computer getting damaged.”  
Surprised Phone Guy began tipping again, getting a result in no time.  
Gary Baker, nine years old. A lively smiling boy, with fluffy brown hair and brown eyes, the picture was a little blurred since the kid couldn´t sit still.  
Gary smiled sadly as he saw that name and picture. “Yeah… that´s me. We came for a vacation, visiting a relative… I wanted to visit Freddy´s, since we don´t have them in Britain.... I nagged them for days. Let us go there! It´s brand new!”  
Tears dripped down the mask.  
Phone Guy, who couldn´t see the kid, watched Mike´s expression change as he looked at something invisible. He carelessly sat down next to PG and began clicking around on the computer.  
But then he stopped again, growling. “I don´t like your fucking attitude. Where´s the fucking problem?!”  
Tapping again, Mike paused, listening. “Well, your decision, but you better a-fucking-nother solution for your freedom. It´s been long enough!”  
It was irritating, to say the least, how naturally Mike interacted with air, as if… well, for him there most likely was normal. For him there was more than air.  
“Do you at least want some cake?”  
If he´d think about it, it was pretty f—hecked up to give the cake his murderer made to the dead kid… but who cared anyway? At this point nothing gosh darn mattered.  
No, no, no, keep your spirit up! You´re the Phone Guy, ring, ring! Think of something!  
“Hey, how about we… we could set of some smaller fireworks in preparation? Or…”  
“Or let´s fucking KILL someone. That´s what it always ends up to be anyway.” Afterwards he made a waving motion towards the space next to him. “ARGH… SHUT UP! It was a fucking joke! Yeah, come on Simon, let´s burn something down.”  
Before the boss could intervene, Mike had left.  
Fire.  
The Phone Guy liked fire and hated it the same.  
What do you KNOW?  
His duality would be his end. He knew that at least.  
Silently he sat down in front of the computer. A new year was close, a new start began. Begin with the beginnings and ask yourself what do you know?  
Well, he knew that the robots were possessed. Actually, basically every animatronic of this franchise was getting possessed, sooner rather than later.  
This couldn´t be a coincidence anymore.  
And no, just saying that simply because they were killed here made them possess the machines wasn´t enough. That doesn´t usually happen!  
William Afton and Henry Miller, two brilliant young minds decide to open an establishment, despite them having potential for so much more. After all, Miller brought the abilities of metal into the public eye and worked endlessly on the potential use. If you nowadays lost an arm and got a mechanical replacement, you could almost not feel the difference.  
Even people who lost their head could be recovered under the right circumstances, saving personality and most memoires.  
So… why opening a children´s restaurant?!  
If metal could replace a head… a brain…  
Shivering and sweating, Phone Guy powered down the computer. Someone was watching him. Someone KNEW what he was thinking. Someone…  
“Heya, Phoney! Wanna come out?” Dave smiled at him, as he jerked up.  
“Y-yes, I was just… checking something…”  
Almost sympathetic, his co-worker helped him up from his chair. “Why are you worrying so much? I already told you I´m on your side, so you can´t actually lose! I will keep this place safe.”  
“Excuse me when I say that I would feel much safer I you simply wouldn´t be here…”  
“You´re excused. But you´re pretty wrong with your statement.”  
They exited the office. “Dave… or Vincent, or whatever. What… what are you doing here? What do you want from this job? You work for TOKENS.”  
“I signed the red contract.”  
“What is your real name?” The words slipped out, just like that.  
“If I told you, you wouldn´t believe me!” Laughing the Purple Guy slapped his back. “You´re a curious Phone, aren´t you? Well, you know, curiosity killed the cat, but the marionette brought it back! Continue your way and you may even manage to surprise me one day. Just…” His voice lowered, not particularly threatening, rather… well-meaning. “… play fair, alright? It´s all fun and games, until someone tries to break the peace and I DON`T want that. I´m happy! I want to spend the next year with Old Sport, you, Mike and of course Jeremy! It could be nice. Don´t ruin it by thinking you have to act on uncertain assumptions.”  
Humming the man let him go and ran towards the exit, where animatronics and humans were roasting marshmallows together, chattering quite friendly.  
Dave threw himself on the spot next to Old Sport and stole the freshly roasted sweet, by biting it off, right as the guy wanted to eat it himself. Slowly Old Sport laid an arm around his friend, pulling him face to face.  
“I´m THIS close to shoving you into the fire.”  
“No you´re not~”  
“Oh, you doubt me?!” Pouting, more jokingly than anything else, Old Sport put more marshmallows onto his stick and held them over the fire. Dave did the same. They waited in silence until they were molten and brown and the Orange Guy slowly tugged them back out. Of course, Dave made his move as swiftly as ever, but he didn´t expect to get the whole stick shoved down his throat. Howling he jerked back.  
“Old Sport! You burned my throat! OW!” Accusingly staring at his friend with betrayal in his eyes, he rubbed the hurt area.  
“Pff… that was worth my two marshmallows!” Snickering the man leaned back to the package, but stopped as Dave shoved his own prepared treat towards his face. They looked at each other resentful.  
“Now you´re just making me feel bad!”  
“Just accept it, Old Sport.” Now a smile was back on his face. “I´m the better person after all.”  
“Screw you, you son of an aubergine.” And with that he nibbled the sweet away.  
“For you anytime, my-”  
“GET A FUCKING ROOM YOU TWO, THERE A PEOPLE TRYING TO RELAX HERE!” Mike´s stare promised no quick death. “AND I MEAN A LITERAL FUCKING ROOM, WHERE YOU GUYS CAN FUCK, SO I DON´T HAVE TO FUCKING WATCH YOUR SICKENING INTERACTIONS ANYMORE.”  
Jeremy raised a brow. “But… isn´t it nice that they get along? It´s better than everybody fighting…”  
“I´d prefer the fucking fighting any day of the piece of shit year that will follow!”  
The smile of his younger co-worker hadn´t faded, but the puppet had assumed a more hostile position, staring him down. “You don´t need to angry, Mike, you´ll find someone special soon! In the meantime, we can share our sweets if you want!”  
He groaned. “It isn´t… about the marshmallows… argh, whatever. Are the explosives ready?”  
Old Sport beamed. “YES! ALL FIVE HUNDRED OF THEM!”  
“That´s a little… excessive…” Phone Guy apprehensive glanced at the giant stack in the corner, but the three pairs of disappointed eyes (counting only the human ones) aimed at him stopped him from furthering the conversation.  
All together they set up for midnight, getting caught up in a discussion about if Old Sport could shoot Minireena into the sky with a firework and if underwear would be sufficient as parachute. The Purple Guy went around handing everyone twelve grapes.  
“It´s a New Year´s tradition in Spain, I think. Eat one for every ring of the bell and make a wish, so it´ll come true in the next year. No worries, by the way, these are seedless grapes!”  
“Oh that sure is GRAPE news!” Old Sport violently wiggled his eyebrows. Phone Guy was raising his index finger, ready to lecture him on how awful he was, before Mike interrupted him.  
“This a tradition that surely GRAPES everyone´s attention right away.” He high-fived with Old Sport, wearing some sort of guilty satisfaction as expression.  
Phone Guy tried his best to keep his screams internal, Jeremy and Dave grinned and the puppet shook his whole body, turning towards the manager.  
Screw putting the small ballerina onto a firework, can´t we send off these two?  
“I wish. I wish so much.”  
Smiling cunningly, Old Sport leaned over to Phoney. “In the good old days, puns were PUNishable with death… what changed your mind, hmmm Phoney? Surely not that you LIK-”  
“SHUT! IT! I might change my mind!”  
“Owwwwww, Phoney´s getting RUUUUUDE!”  
Now the murderous duo high-fived each other as the poor man began to make error-noises out of stress. Mike couldn´t help but smile slightly as well. Quickly he turned to the other side, so they wouldn´t get any wrong impression of him.  
“Two minutes ´till midnight!” Jeremy squeaked and got his grapes ready, holding half of them up to Marion, who declined. They got in a good position to see the night sky, standing next to the animatronics who had watched the sky for hours already, seemingly not getting enough.  
The most unfriendly of the guards went over to his friend and patted his head gently, before sitting back down with him, getting ready to activate their own fireworks.  
With the sound of the bell they ate their grapes and wished their hearts out. Everyone, even Mike who thought it was silly, closed their eyes.  
Orange Guy who was finished first, snatched the lighter out of Phoney´s hand and activated as many fuses as possible. Howling euphoric he tried to be louder than the explosions in the sky and fell around Dave´s neck afterwards. “HAPPY NEW YEAR!”  
Dave picked him up and twirled him around and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “The happiest of happy New Years to the loveliest human existing~!”  
It was hard to see in the dark, but Dave could have sworn that his friend´s face was glowing red. Oh, how he hoped for it to be the case…  
Jeremy hugged the puppet tightly, smiling as bright as the glowing sky. “Happy New Year, Marion! Let´s make this year the best of our—existence!”  
Happy New Year, Jeremy. It took me far too long to find you.  
They both were surprised as Old Sport joined the hug. “HAPPY NEW YEAR, YOU BEAUTIFUL CHILD-MINDS! STAY THE WAY YOU ARE!”  
“Happy New Year, Old Sport! It´s so nice that you´re part of our place!”  
Orange Guy didn´t even bothered waiting for the puppets response and attacked the last two guys. Mike was using Phoney as a meat-shield. “Take him, not me.”  
Defeated Phone Guy allowed his unsettling co-worker to wrap his arms around him, as he only patted his back. “Happy New Year, employee. Don´t… uh… just keep it happy, alright?”  
“Yessir! Happy New Year!”  
Dave had set off the next wave of fireworks, laughing. “GET THIS YOU COMMUNI-”  
Jeremy had hugged him and laughed as well, while the Marionette only snarled. “Happy New Year, Dave! You were great last year, I can´t wait to see what you´ll do this year!”  
“Same for you, kiddo! Never vanish, we need you here!”  
“What could happen to me! I have great friends, work a great job and all in all never been happier before! There´s no way I would ever go away from here!”  
Phone Guy smiled bittersweet as he overheard these words. Mike slowly got back out of his hiding spot, staying close to his partner.  
“Happy New Years. All of you.” Shortly he paused, reddened a little and turned towards PG “And especially you Simon. You grew as person, at least it feels like it, so… we´re going to… we´ll start this year together and stay like that until we both achieved our dreams.”  
Surprised and somewhat flattered, the man laughed. “That… could take a long time.”  
“I´m fine with that.”  
Fairly awkward they now stood next to each other, both with hot cheeks, until Phone Guy pulled Mike into a sincere hug. “Happy New Year, Mike. I´ve never been excited for a new year before.”  
After a heartbeat, Mike hugged him back shortly and pushed him away. “Personal space, for fuck´s sake…”  
If Simon still had a normal face, the grin on top of it could have rivaled Dave´s. Now he simply glowed out of the dial like a torch.  
Purple Guy nudged Old Sport and signed towards them. “WHO´S NOW SUPPOSED TO GET A ROOM?!”  
But that couldn´t ruin Phoney´s mood anymore. “IF YOU MEAN BY THAT TO GO BACK INSIDE, THEN ALL OF US, AFTER ALL IT´S TIME FOR A NEW YEAR`S GAME!” Humming to himself, the man reentered the establishment, waving the animatronics to come along.  
They played until next morning, but after Old Sport summoned Exodia while playing monopoly, Freddy began screeching without pause and Dave trying to force Mike to participate in a competition to stuff his face with hundred grapes at the same time to look who managed to eat more, they decided to go home for today and rest up. It was a new day after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Deern is called like that as a reference to Fran Bow and because I absolutely hate making names up. Speaking of! I googled American last names and BOI, are they weird! Noble? Mclean? MCCALL (totally Simon´s last name, it fits too perfect)? BEST? V I N C E N T? It´s kinda funny and kinda weird…  
> And yes, I reminded myself that Gary is a happy little British boy and changed the name I picked! :33  
> Fun fact: All puns are made up on the spot, spontaneously, to achieve the maximum cringe – you´re welcome. Have yet to ever google specific puns for the story and I don´t know if I should be proud or ashamed…  
> FOR ALL OF YOU! I HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT NEW YEAR`S! VIRTUAL HUGS FROM ME TO YOU! No matter how you choose to spend it, with family, friends or just relaxing on your own, I hope you´re happy and have a positive following year! My wish for New Year is that more people would write Old Sport/Dave! (please, I´m addicted, I NEED THIS, why isn´t there more out yet?!)  
> Really, if you ever considered writing or creating in general… JUST DO IT! The internet is not all that cruel, as long as you try! (Or maybe I was just very lucky…)  
> Writing this story is amazing, encouraging and fun, thanks to your kind words! THANK YOU ALL!


	18. WHOOP WHOOP, IT`S THE SOUND OF DA POLICE!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Decisions are made to guarantee a happy ending and people die. Like, a lot of families. But who cares, after all we´re all psychopaths here! And you have to admit, it was fun, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a fun chapter, so enjoy, the next two chapters will be somewhat depressing…  
> And as always, every comment gets an answer :3

Only a few days had passed, but Phone Guy was continually thinking on how to get the requested information. God dammit, he KNEW the data was SOMEWHERE within the franchise. All information should be saved on a central server, or in some sort of archive.  
But if he accessed it, there would be a lot of questions he had to account for. Probably would end badly for him. Deadly bad.  
How could he request to be send the needed info, without becoming a liability?  
Silently he pondered. Surely there was one authority that even Freddy´s couldn´t deny.  
Ah. Well…  
Slowly he reached for his receiver.  
Two warnings first. But some things will get you fired immediately though.  
Good. Alright. No worries. He had a plan and it wasn´t a very good one, but it was a plan.  
Mike did look worse again since last week. Bags under his eyes, rather tense and easily irritable.  
Struck with a sudden streak of determination PG stood up and clenched his fists. Precautions of course will be taken.  
Use what you can´t fight.  
Quickly he left the office he had hidden in and began to seek out his two demons. “DAVE? OLD SPORT? COME OVER HERE!”  
“WHAZZAAAAAAAP?”  
The boss tried his best to not shriek as he was shoved from behind by the Orange Guy. “I… I need your help.”  
Dave eyes slimmed. “So you do. What do you want?”  
“The police will be here at noon.”  
“WHAT?”  
“No worries, I just need them for a few things. Please, don´t be scared… you won´t even need to be close to the establishment. Next to the fact that it would literally do the chain no good if you get arrested. The thing is, I need them to leave soon enough again, so I have a special task for you today.”  
Old Sport was hooked already. “A SPECIAL task?”  
Their superior nodded. “Down into the secret base with us! Do you have your diving masks ready?”  
Instantaneously both friends flipped over the mask that materialized out of nothing, ready and eager to enter the secret base.  
They went towards the ball pit, Phoney handing each of them a small pill. “This is cyanide, in case anything drags you down.”  
“Uhm…”  
“YES, no problem, SECRET BASE! SECRET BASE! I DIDN`T EVEN KNEW WE HAD ONE!”  
It was almost sweet how easily excited the Guard was. Dave grinned dreamily, while Phoney tried to not feel horrified by it.  
“We´ll jump together, stay close to me or you´ll most likely die.”  
“Yessir!”  
“We could use this!” Out of his back pocket Dave pulled about ten meter of ropes.  
“Why do you… have so much rope with you…?”  
“If I freak out Old Sport too much I can kidnap him any time, so he won´t run away!” Satisfied the Purple Guy tied them all together and jumped into the depths of hell.  
Balls were everywhere, but the diving masks kept them at least able to breathe a little, as they slowly descended past self-aware pizza that had rotted there for decades, despite this restaurant only being open for one year, dinosaur’s bones, the garden of Eden and some confused children.  
Finally they entered a small creak in the wall and fell into a tidy room that resemble almost a classroom, with the whiteboard being filled with conspiracy signs and pinned location with a big note on its side, saying NEEDS BURNING OR COMPLETION OF PLAN D.I.C.K.  
Old Sport took of his mask, confused. “Hey, Phoney, why does killing kids in the saferoom shut down the restaurant, but all the kids dying in the ball pit every day doesn´t?”  
“Uh…” Uncomfortable the metal-head shifted around. “I… uh… don´t you want know your mission? Sit down over there, so I can instruct you.”  
“Instructions? For a secret conspiracy against Candy´s? You mean so we´re not getting…” Old Sport wiggled his eyebrows. “… IllumiNAUGHTY?!”  
If Phone Guy weren´t outnumbered, he probably would have fought him one on one, but now he only cringed and moved on. “We have a selection of weapons and schemes, depending on what kind of distraction you´d like to create. I would prefer something LOUD and important though.”  
“Hey, maybe…!” Dave leaned towards his friend and whispered into his ear. “Funtime Freddy has a bazooka. We could use that!”  
“WOW, REALLY?!”  
Prideful the Purple Guy smirked. “Yep!”  
“What are you two talking about?” Suspicious of their activities, Phoney interrupted. “Is it about destroying the enemy?”  
“Yessir!”  
“Mind telling me about it?”  
“EXPLOSIONS! BEARS FIGHTING ROBOTER FIGHTING ALIENS FIGHTING ZOMBIES FIGHTING NIGHTGUARDS! STRIPPERS EVERYWHERE!”  
Both were now staring at the Orange Guy, slightly confused, but the other psychopath grinned. “Didn´t caught that part, but I´m on it, only one question… where do we get fighting Nightguards?”  
“Okay, okay, you´re right it was a little unrealistic. We´re getting the strippers and the aliens as security, but we, the bear and the Nightguard stay in the jumble!”  
“Hm, if we manage to sneak Foxy past the Phone, it might works out, but we-”  
“DON´T. TOUCH. THE. FOX.”  
“Aww… Phoney! Pls! It´s gonna be fun!”  
“Employee, we have bombs, viruses and even a buttload of rabid dogs. Why do you always obsess over the hecking Fox?!”  
“I´m not!”  
“Then why not do something to Freddy? Or Bonnie?”  
Orange Guy began to pout and Dave gave off some dangerous vibes, forcing the boss to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. “I- I´m not insulting your ideas here, I just w-wanted- I mean hoped for something more creative…”  
Appeased Old Sport got back on track. “I see, I see… I want the same after all. Okay. Give me a minute.”  
“Stop overheating your poor brain, I already have the PERFECT plan! We don´t even need the aliens, but we need some acid, which Matt can provide, a projector and access to Phoney´s computer!”  
Doubtful the Phone-head and the Orange Guy tilted their heads simultaneously. “Why?”  
“I´m going to need Foxybody.jpg one to six hundred.”  
“I DELETED THOSE A LONG TIME AGO!”  
“Goddammit, okay, I need access to the darknet, because where else would I get gigabytes of animatronic-porn from?”  
Almost pleading Phoney glanced at Old Sport. “Maybe your friend has a better idea…?”  
“Maybe we should! WE SHOULD! Let´s smuggle LSD into the drinks!”  
“C´mon, sportsy, you call THAT creative?”  
“Simple and effective, as well as a great show!”  
Desperate Phone Guy clapped his hands together. “WHY NOT BOTH! We don´t have much time. Be ready at two and please… I´m counting on you! You have to start the distraction as soon as I message you, can you manage that?”  
Surprised the two psychos straightened their backs, but ruined the illusion by snickering, especially Dave. “Thanks for entrusting us with that special task! We´ll give the police a party to remember!”  
“Don´t get caught, you two.”  
Now really surprised both turned towards him. Old Sport smiled confused. “Uh… you care? Don´t worry, we will be careful. We´re good at not getting caught! Right?”  
“RIGHT!”  
Confident both began a five minutes long high-five with twenty different gang-signs and the letters of kidden-strangler, using fingerspelling in between to spice it up. After the pose called “the-swift-dolphin-execution-as-tiger-fighter-Joe-tries-to-escape” they were finally finished and bowed slightly.  
Unimpressed Phoney pointed towards the corner. “There is a canon in the corner, together with probably functioning parachutes, in case you want to leave. Take care and make sure you have everything you need.”  
As the phone left Old Sport fell back onto a chair. “Good, the LSD is probably easy to get from the ungrateful toddlers, I´ll just need to restock my licorice. Are you sure Matt offers acid?”  
“Yep, I once bought it for a little prank. Matt has pretty much accesses to anything, as long as you have the Tokens and know what you´re asking for.”  
“Prank?”  
“I made a hole into the oven and stuffed it with rats. The heat made them explode EVERYWHERE. But this time it will be more difficult, since we have to get it into the pipes…”  
Smirking the Orange Guy leaned back. “I like your way of thinking!”  
“Just my way of thinking?” The smile made it obvious he was just joking.  
Teasingly his friend played along. “Well, couldn´t be your great ability to be responsible.”  
“What boring person would like a responsible partner?”  
“Maybe at least someone I can leave alone for a month without him releasing our supernatural nemesis and almost killing his boss and co-worker?”  
“It was MUCH more than a month!”  
“The point is still valid!” Grinning he ruffled his hair. “But I wouldn´t want it in any other way.”  
Dave turned away, rubbing his face. “S-same. Let´s go and get our items! This is going to be an adventure!”  
“I USE THE CANON FIRST! ALICE, YOU READY?!”  
His little girl, who had shyly hidden in his pocket before, came quickly out and grabbed onto his hair, giggling excitedly.  
“THAT`S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE! MUTIPLE BONE-BREAKS, HERE I COME!” But before he could recklessly throw himself into the canon, without even taking the parachute along, Dave grabbed him by the collar and jerked him back.  
“If we want to go through with our big plans, we need to be in top condition.”  
Pouting the Orange Guy stripped the bag over his shoulders. “I was kidding when I said you need to be more responsible… well, fine, I get it.”  
Still not putting on a safety helmet nor the safety googles, he climbed into the canon and pulled the rope above him, ending in him getting launched through a hole above him. His ecstatic screams were slowly disappearing in the distance.  
What disappeared in the distance for Dave, came closer for Mike, who was running late. Irritated the man checked his surroundings, trying to find the sources of the fucking mind-breaking noise. But not even his nightmares he ever considered the thing coming from above until his co-worker almost crushed onto him.  
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKING HELL!” Mike resisted the urge to punch him senseless and instead controlled himself to help the guy up. “What the FUCK was that supposed to be?! Where did you even come from!?”  
“Secret mission, BOI! Call me 0069, because I´ll solve the case and all of your daddy issues at the same time! Though I destroyed my parachute by accident…”  
Minireena laughed supportive.  
“This… makes no sense.”  
“I see you´re not denying to have daddy-issues! That´s the first step!”  
“You know, I gave up a long time ago to discuss with you. I´m not even angry, you´re just talking out of your ass.”  
Another sound came from above, mad laughter this time. Dave slowly and gracefully floated over them and then timely cut off his parachute to actually land on top of Old Sport, crushing him to the ground.  
“Dave! Y U DO DIS?!”  
“Well, I guess I simply… fell for you!”  
The Orange Guy giggled, but Mike groaned. “That doesn´t make SENSE! You didn´t fell FOR him, you fell onto him, ruining the complete joke in the process.”  
“Since when are you the joke police?” Aggressive Purple Guy stood back up.  
“Since your jokes became retarded.” Just as aggressive Mike stared back. He had a bad week, seemingly not even getting remotely closer to freeing Gary and a fucking eggplant-man trying to start shit was actually something to distract him for five minutes.  
Old Sport was having none of it. “We have to go now, Candy´s customers won´t die by themselves, amIrite? I mean, usually they do, but not that many.”  
With a last snarl, Dave turned around and followed his friend away from Freddy´s.  
Growling, the cynical Guard continued to walk to work, not particularly pumped with the aspect of getting lectured by PG again.  
With a quick glance at his side, he noticed that at least Toy-Freddy wasn´t running away as soon as the Orange Guy came closer than two feet. Apparently he realized that nothing could hurt him anymore.  
Even more pissed than before Mike kicked down the doors of the establishment. Since Gary wasn´t free yet, he rarely hung out with his friends and was next to the human at all times. It wasn´t even as if he was constantly talking or doing stupid shit, but the way his silent presence was always there annoyed the Guard. It was so… accusing.  
Simon ran towards him, grabbing his shoulders. “You don´t have any of your cocaine still there per chance?”  
“Uh… no? I´m not fucking stupid!”  
“Okay… okay. We can deal with that. It´s probably even better that way. We… we´re going to be busy today. DON`T wear the suits. Not that you´d ever want to, but… ah, why did I even mention it. Be careful today.”  
“Mind to explain me WHAT THE FUCK is going on?!”  
“Later, I have to practice. Give me until closing time.”  
“PURPLE AND ORANGE ARE TALKING ABOUT KILLING AGAIN AND YOU`RE ASKING ME FOR COCAINE! I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION!”  
“Only Candy customers, they deserve that anyway. I have a plan! Trust me, it´s for the best. I fear that I-” Nervously the Phone Guy looked around. “You know, I have a phone for a head.”  
“Oh, fucking REALLY? Nah, NEVER noticed that.”  
“And… you know… what if my head is tapped? People recording my voice at all time?!”  
“Bullshit. They would have fired you a long time ago, after all you´re not supposed to talk about the factory, right?”  
“I´m scared, Mike!”  
“Why? It´s not like life could get any worse for us, right?”  
“I could lose you. If the factory is coming to get me, I fear you do something… rash…”  
This actually managed to silence Mike for a short while, at least how long it took to get the heat back out of one´s face. “I´m fucking fine. I can protect myself god-fucking-dammit. Back to the point before, what is going on?”  
“I will call the police in order to get an excuse to gain accesses to the contact data of the Baker-family.”  
“You- wait, what?! Seriously?!” Shocked Mike leaned forward, embarrassing PG a bit. “That will work?! You will DO that?”  
“O-of course! We have some souls to free, right?”  
A new glimmer of respect shined in his eyes. “Alright. What do you need me to do?”  
“Keep the children safe. Nothing is allowed to go wrong today.”  
“Count me in!”  
“As always!” Serious Simon nodded. “I have to make the first call… first of many. Wish me luck…”  
“Confidence!” Smiling Mike patted his back and went to play his part, motivated enough to not scream at the customers.  
Phone Guy took a deep breath and clenched his fist. If they haven´t wiretapped him, he would be fine as long as he played his role convincingly. Come on, you lied to so many people before, this will be no difference.  
The number of the police.  
What is your emergency?  
“I h-have information about a case from California. Gary Baker, the boy who disappeared in the location… I t-think I´ve found something in the local restaurant that belongs to him, probably hinting that he might still be around… please check it out. It´s in the backroom. Ask to see the spare parts. But be quick, I think they want to destroy them…”  
And cut the line. Anonymous. They couldn´t prove anything.  
There were always individuals interested in solving the Freddy´s case. Because everyone wanted to be involved with Freddy´s for some screwed up reason. Those individuals would follow a vague hint like this one. Useful idiots, or dedicated detectives?  
He wasn´t the one to judge that.  
Get ready to act confused and surprised. Get the evidence.  
Good thing he hadn´t discarded of the broken down Toys yet, which in turn would have some DNA still inside of them… Maybe. If it hadn´t been too long. The blood was of course cleaned out, but maybe there was a lone hair, a piece of dead skin…  
But that wasn´t important anyway. The police only needed to get here and inform him about the fact that there might be evidence about Baker´s disappearance inside of the machines.  
Then he would have a reasonable explanation to gain accesses to the information.  
Silently he paced up and down inside of the office.  
What, the missing children incident in California?  
But hadn´t that been more than a year?  
Well, we have the animatronics from that restaurant, but after a breaking and entering they got destroyed. We´re planning on shipping them off again…  
No, of course not! I will bring you to them in a minute!  
Then the next call had to be even more convincing.  
U-uh… sir, I have to request the data of Baker´s. You know, incident in California. The police is here.  
I don´t know, they said “anonymous tip”… I´m sure they won´t find anything, but it would be suspicious if we don´t have the data here anymore…  
…  
If this wouldn´t work… if he made himself in any way suspicious…  
Shortly he considered making himself a coffee, but his hands were shaking far too much.  
For heck´s sake, it had only been an hour or so and he already lost his cool.  
What if they wouldn´t even follow the tip?  
That was unlikely.  
Tick Tock.  
Tick Tock.  
It´s the grandfather clock.  
He couldn´t take it anymore, so he decided to text his employ- special agents to check the progress they were making.  
Said men had sneaked into Candy´s, which was a wonder in and of itself, since they were pretty hard to miss and were just working on getting the acid into the pipes and the LSD into the drinks as Old Sport´s phone beeped.  
Dave groaned. “Is it Phoney?”  
After taking out the phone his partner nodded. “Wants to know how we´re doing.”  
“Tell him that we´ve gotten kidnapped by the Green Guy.”  
“Who´s that?”  
“No one, I just want to screw with him.”  
“Let´s rather focus here, we could-”  
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Suddenly a Candy´s employee stepped around the corner.  
Dave gripped tightly onto his knife, but Old Sport only laughed. “Taking care of the fire-safety, dummy!”  
“Get onto the stage, right now! Two of our performers are sick, didn´t you get the memo?”  
“But… what if someone sets something on fire?”  
Distressed the man took of his cap to fix his messy hair. “We… okay, your friend stays here, but you better get into a suit ASAP!”  
“Sir, yes sir!”  
Already he was gone again. Dave and Old Sport looked at each other, but Old Sport´s confident smile wasn´t wavered. “Give me the LSD, take care of the acid. When we´re ready to go, or you need a distraction, give me a sign! When I´m in a suit, I´ll have better accesses to the drinks anyway.”  
“I need ten more minutes, before you can make the customers run around like headless chicken!”  
“Ten minutes! Can do!” Cheerful he began to skip off, before Dave held him back one more time.  
“Hey, sportsy, how about…” His planned words dried up in his throat for some reason. “U-uh…”  
“Hm?”  
“H-how about…” Well, he WANTED to test Sportsy´s affection for him by asking about a kiss for good luck (totally just a test, nothing weird about it, nah), but he couldn´t get it out. And now that he got this nervous, he couldn´t even play it off as a joke afterwards. It was already bad enough when he accidently spilled that he regularly stalked him… Human interactions were fucking hard. If he had one dollar for every human he accidently made run away in terror just by talking to them, he could probably afford himself friends made for him out of the genetically material hidden in secret government facilities. “… Never mind…”  
Orange Guy´s grin slightly widened in a mischievous way. “You´ll be fine, Dave.”  
Did he know something? Sometimes Dave had the feeling that his friend knew more than he showed and had fun watching everyone else piecing it together by themselves.  
Snickering the Orange Guy left around the corner, making a mental picture of his friend´s flustered face. Pure gold!  
Glowingly good-mooded, he rushed towards a somewhat hidden door, expecting it to be the part of the building exclusive for employees and thus were where the suits are hidden. Wouldn´t want to ruin the magic for the kiddens now, would we?  
Many doors stretched to the left and the right, some of them boarded off, some of them simply locked. The third one finally opened though!  
Inside was a poker table, with some shady figures sitting around, smoking cigars. On the table were needles scattered, which Old Sport recognized in sheer shock.  
“Is… is that HEROIN? IN A RESTAURANT?”  
Miniscule movement was going on as the men decided who would have the honor to shoot him first, but Orange Guy had more pressing concerns. This was a DISGRACE!  
“What are you DOING?! YOU PLEBS!” In a solid movement he swept it all from the table. “YOU GODDAMN PEASANTS! REAL MAN DO COCAINE! Heroin-junkies are fucking n00bs! Here, have some and tell me it ain´t like five hundred times better!”  
Disgusted he threw them some of his secret stock and turned away. Doing heroin in a children´s restaurant… what if a kid had seen it and know mistakes heroin for being the cool drug?! How irresponsible!  
After this short escapade he continued in his search for a death-suit to entertain toddler, which were more interested in shoving each other in one of the metal death-jaws.  
On the other side of the city things went equally smooth, but tenser. At least for Phone Guy, who just had noticed that he had no idea on how to get Jeremy out of sight from the unkind officers.  
Caring about your employees was hecking darn hard! This situation made him somewhat understand the Phone Guys who did nothing more than protecting the establishment, even if it still was morally wrong and costs the lives of everyone around them.  
“Jeremy! Jeremy, please, would you mind to have a short talk with me in the office?”  
Slightly worried the young Guard said goodbye to the kids he played with and ran after him. “Sir? Did I do something wrong?”  
His terrifying companion that was captured in the shell of a marionette peeked out of his bag, probably ready to attack if he said something wrong. Why was everyone in this forsaken restaurant only waiting for an excuse to kill him?!  
“No, of course not, you´re doing good… honestly, between us, I think you´re actually the only qualified worker here. But that isn´t what I wanted to talk about anyway. Jeremy, I need you to stay in the office today and watch the cameras, please. Today… the police will be here for a short investigation and so I will be too busy.”  
“The police?”  
“It´s about the broken Toys… we never found the culprit, but at least we could get some insurance if we get through the investigation.”  
“Oh, okay. I will take care of this!” Smiling again motivated, Jeremy sat down in front of it, resting his face on his hands.  
“Don´t leave the office, except you expect a catastrophe if you don´t.”  
“Yes sir!”  
“And don´t sit so close to the monitors, it could hurt your… uh… eyes…?”  
“Oh right! Thank you Mr. Phone Guy!” Now sitting straight, Jeremy swayed from side to side happily.  
“And… you could make yourself some tea if you´d like to, as long as you´re careful.”  
“You´re too kind! I will give my best!”  
Sometimes Jeremy´s positivity was unsettling, but his honest smile immediately vaporized that sentiment.  
“See you later… Try to relax a bit.”  
In the same second that the boss stepped back into the main area a small crowd of people entered, presumably police force in plain, unsuspicious clothing, as to not create a disturbance.  
Quickly PG checked his breathing, to not giving off any signals and greeted them with a sort of confused kindness.  
Remember Simon y-  
Shortly he paused but decided to continue.  
… You don´t know why they are here.  
Remember Simon. Be careful.  
“Mr. Cawthon?”  
“Phone Guy if you don´t mind. What can I do for you? Did something happen?”  
A man took control of the situation by stepping forward. His almost gray eyes were not unkind, but closed off like steel, he had beard stubble and slight bags under his eyes. Goofily enough he was wearing a pretty cliché detective coat.  
On the other hand, the man was pretty cliché himself.  
“We are following an anonymous tip, hinting that there are ties between the machines and the missing children incident in California. We don´t want to cause any trouble, but we have to check out the spare parts in the back.”  
“Ethan Cross, if I´m not mistaken? They were planned to be shipped off today, but of course, follow me. I would just like to know what´s going on…”  
Calmly he said his trained text, while letting his mind wander.  
Ethan Cross, well-liked with most of his co-worker before his suspension and the first adult victim of Freddy´s. His daughter was one of the first missing children, together with five other kids… was it the third incident? Or actually the first?  
Phone Guy couldn´t remember anymore, it wasn´t that important anyway.  
After his daughter disappeared, the man got caught in a downward spiral. In his attempt to find the murderer and shut down Freddy´s, he lost his job, wife and son, leaving him no other choice but continue his path. The police, while not calling him an employee anymore, still valued his advice and intuition, always calling him whenever new evidence was found.  
Mr. Cross became somewhat of a pity-legend among Phone Guys, yet they still hated seeing him. It meant that he probably wouldn´t leave for a while.  
While staring at him, Phone Guy almost wanted to ask him if he believed that his daughter was still around… somehow. If he believed in restless spirits and ghost.  
Would that be cruel…?  
Ethan had instructed his team for what to check and once more talked to the manager, with his distant smile. “Sir, may we get the contacts and all data of the last case, as well as the damage report on the machines?”  
“It might take a minute…”  
“Understandable.”  
Now the worst part was about to begin. He stepped into the office, thoughtless ruffling the hair of his small employee, while using the “emergency” number. Jeremy appeared as if he wanted to say something, but stopped as he realized that his boss was busy.  
Anxious Simon listened to the cold beeps on the other end, lasting forever or maybe just for a millisecond, until it was replaced by an equally cold voice.  
So cold, you could almost not believe that they were human.  
“What appears to be the emergency?” An icy female voice asked.  
“Madame, I have to request the data of California, since the police-”  
“We know about the police. The data will be send to you immediately. Fix the issue.”  
And so the line was cut. Okay, better than expected, at least they didn´t… it was highly unlikely that they knew what he did.  
Unlikely.  
“Are you okay Mr. Phone Guy?”  
“U-uh… yeah, I just called my… wife… haha…”  
“You have a wife, sir?” Puzzled Jeremy raised an eyebrow.  
“Well, not really… it´s… it´s complicated. You´re doing a good job, keep at it!” Quickly he activated his computer and waited a short while for the mail to arrive, just to immediately copy it and sending it to the usual address.  
But before of deleting it as required, he copied it once more and saved it under a different name.  
Gary.  
Hopefully they wouldn´t find it.  
But that wasn´t possible, it was just an email on a hard drive. No one would look for it.  
They didn´t knew what he was thinking, he wasn´t stepping out of line.  
“You really should sit down, mister…” Jeremy stood up and offered his place. “Should I make you a tea? You´re sweating… are you getting sick?”  
They weren´t gods, they weren´t omnipresent. “No… no, thank you… I have still some things to do…”  
After sending Dave the signal, he waited five minutes and returned to Mr. Cross, who was discussing with one of the specialists.  
“I have send you the requested information, sir.”  
“Good, good. Well, I have some… good… news for you. While there seemingly is actually some DNA INSIDE of the robots, none of it is…” Ethan paused and shook his head. “It could be from anything. It could have been from a rat. We will need to-”  
Suddenly their walkie-talkies activated sending some sort of code. Cursing under his breath, the detective almost kicked one of the broken masks, but retreated. “This is an emergency, all forces are needed.”  
“If there are any questions left, you know how to contact me.”  
Mr. Cross was the last one to leave and even took another look at the parts, a pained expression on his face.  
“Really a sad fate for them… isn´t it? The Toys were many children´s favorites, especially with the girls…” Phone Guy wasn´t sure if it was cruelty or empathy that made him say these useless words.  
“You will ship them off, since we didn´t found any explicit evidence, won´t you?”  
“Me? I would keep them to myself, honestly, but the company policy is strict.”  
“What a weird coincidence that right now a catastrophe of this immediacy happens…”  
“Sir? What do you mean?”  
His cold gaze stayed on him for another second. “Well… I´m sure we will see each other again soon.”  
“I wouldn´t hope so! After all, that would mean something bad was going on, haha!”  
“Ha-ha indeed.” Once more the high-pitched beeps were emitted from his pocket and he turned to hurry into his car and drive to the place that was having problems.  
Problems were an understatement.  
Dave and Old Sport were sitting on top of another building, laughing their asses off as they watched children drop over dead from overdoses, adults attacking each other and their surroundings with weapons that the colorful Guards had given to them, not noticing that they were just other humans.  
But at least the ones that were high didn´t feel the acid dripping into their skin and other organs, unlike the poor screaming souls running around and rolling on the floor, trying to escape the pain.  
The whole building was on fire, since Old Sport said it would feel wrong if they wouldn´t do that. At least they agreed to cover everything with different chemicals, so it looked less boring and more like a PARTEY!  
Blue, green, yellow and of course red the flames attracted all attention, ensuring that the police would be busy for a month!  
“Uh, Dave, look! The firefighters are coming! GET READY!”  
Swiftly Purple Guy took out the remote and counted down with his friend. As soon as they stopped, the psychos pushed the big read button and under the sweet sound of “Never gonna give you up” hundreds of balloons flew into the air, with a banner attached to them, showing hardcore animatronic porn.  
Another push and the banner was set on fire with a constant loop of “the year´s start coming and they won´t stop coming and they won´t stop coming-"  
LAST PRESS AND IT ALL BLEW UP IN A EXPLOSION OF PINK GLITTER MIXED WITH METAL SHARDS, DISFIGURING EVERYONE AROUND AND WITH A LAST “Shaking hands is gay, cause people touch dick with that” EVERYTHING VAPORIZED!  
Happy they high-fived and made their way back to the restaurant.  
“That was excessive!”  
“YEAH! WE SHOULD DO THAT AGAIN SOMETIME!” They twirled around, hyped as hell and made some sweet dance moves, just to top it off with a ninja pose. Giggling Old Sport jumped on top of Dave´s back. “CARRY ME!”  
As they reentered the establishment, Phone Guy almost appeared as if he wanted to hug them, but ultimately just clapped his hands together. “Whatever you did, it was great! They called EVERYONE away from here! Congrats!”  
Proudly the Orange posed. “You can count on me! Chaos has no name, but likes to be called Old Sport!”  
“Chaos has no name, but it likes to yiff the fox!”  
All of sudden an alarm ringed and a net fell out of the ceiling onto Dave, together with hundreds of papers, on which #RESPECTDAFOX was printed.  
“What the h-heck?!”  
Now Phone Guy´s head began to ring as well. “H-hello, Freddy´s Pizza Papa-ronies, the manager speaking?”  
“Mr. Cross speaking. A… “Yiff alert” just activated and my partner informed me about his little… escapade. Uh… this is awkward…”  
“Your partner?”  
“Officer Bootylova.”  
Orange Guy jumped up. “OFFICER BOOTYLOVA?!”  
“What?”  
“He´s Scottish.”  
“W-what has that to do with anything?!”  
“I thought it might explain the last name… however, just… deactivate the “Fox-protector-69” and it should be fine.”  
“OR HOW ABOUT YOU JUST RESPECT THE FOX, YOU FILTHY, FILTHY… ANIMALS!” Apparently the man responsible for it was sitting next to Ethan.  
“Why are you even working with such an insane man?”  
“Well, he´s good at what he´s doing.”  
Excited Old Sport clutched his fist. “ARE YOU KIDDING, HE´S THE BEST! HE`S A TACTITIAN, NO, A FULL ON GENERAL, CAN STOP BULLETS WITH HIS GLORIOUS BUTTCHEEKS AND SOLVES ALL THE CASES HE GETS! I`M HIS BIGGEST FAN!”  
Mr. Cross also didn´t want to deal with this bullshit, so he ended the conversation. “Sorry for the complications. Next time he will be assigned to another case.”  
“OH NO, HOW DO I GET MY SEXY PICTURES SIGNED IN THAT CASE! NOOOO!”  
Merciful like he was, Phoney had already hung up.  
You´re so mean, Phoney!” Pouting Orange Guy grabbed Dave and walked away, but they were most likely not really a danger, since they had gotten off most of their killing need.  
Good, he did it. He actually DID it.  
Mike strolled towards him, his eyes showing a sort of optimistic energy that PG hadn´t seen before. “And?! Did it work?!”  
“Yes! YES, YES, Y E S! I have the number on my account, in a folder called Gary.”  
“Great, let´s finish this!” The Guard wanted to turn away, but was stopped by his friend.  
“Uh… don´t mean to be a buzzkill, but there is still the time shift between here and England. We should wait at least until ten.”  
“Argh, fuck me, I hate that.” Pacing back and forth, Mike radiated impatience with every inch of his being. “It´s their fucking child! They as fuck wouldn´t care if they knew what it was about!”  
“But they don´t, so stay patient. How about you…”  
“Don´t say anything, I´ll keep myself busy one way or another.”  
Phone Guy slightly nodded to himself, assuming that his friend would take care of his invisible children and that he would probably be better off releasing Jeremy out of the claustrophobic office.  
Jeremy was resting on his arms, sleeping peacefully, while the puppet kept an actual focus on the cameras. They shortly looked at each other.  
Any problems?  
“Uh… not really. I just wanted to say that you are free to go now if you´d like to…”  
The Marionette leaned towards him, his long claws tapping against the chair. Phone Guy couldn´t say he particularly enjoyed having the unsettling creature so close to himself, but it wasn´t fear anymore.  
They are happy now, right? The children.  
“Only one more call and I can answer that with yes.”  
Mike doesn´t know what he is doing… he doesn´t understand how they work! How they think!  
“If you know it better, then why didn´t they came to you for help?”  
Having successfully shut the animatronic up, he left the office again, trying to keep himself busy until closing time.  
Almost impatient he nodded as the last customers left, together with the rest of the employees that he had allowed… well, encouraged to leave early as well, so he and Mike wouldn´t be interrupted.  
Together they slammed the door shut and out of convenience Mike snatched away PG´s receiver and began tipping in the number he had seen inside of the email.  
“H-hey! That… you can´t just…”  
“Well, I assumed you wanted to listen.”  
“I do!”  
“Then stop being a pussy and hold still! It´s difficult as fuck when you moving so much and I´m not even finish with half of it.”  
“It tickles…”  
“Simon, didn´t I tell you to grow a pair?”  
Now only interrupted by occasional giggling, Mike managed to put in the number and all three of them held their breath, even if it was more metaphorical in Gary´s case.  
Beep.  
Beep.  
Beep.  
Finally it clicked and a thin female voice answered. “Hello, at Baker´s, who am I talking to?”  
All of a sudden Mike noticed that he had not really any idea what to say. “Here… uh… I´m Mike Schmidt…”  
She sounded somewhat sympathetic. “Sorry, never heard that name before. Do you want to speak with my husband?”  
“No, no… I mean, yeah, you never heard of me, but this isn´t about that, this is about your son, Gary.”  
That was a stupid idea and as expected her voice became closed off. “He has been dead for over a year.”  
“Yeah, I know, but how… it´s really important that you tell me how you all took it.” He should have asked PG to do this.  
“Excuse me?! What the HELL does that have to do with you?!”  
“Madame, I have to inform you that… look, just say you´re doing fine and I´ll be gone. Just say that his sister has now a dog and grows up nicely and that you all support each other and stuff, so he can move on!”  
“What is WRONG with you!? How do you know about us?! Who gave you our number!? What do you mean with “move on”?!”  
“Well, fine, fuck you, your kid possessed the Toy Freddy he was shoved into! After I broke that shithead into pieces, his soul started to follow me and he asked me to find and call you, so he could leave this world in peace. I didn´t ask for this and this is probably just as stressful for me as it is for you.”  
She was crying. Her sobs were distorted by the low quality of the connection.  
“I… I´m sorry, we both just want the kid to move on, right? How are you doing?”  
Suddenly a male voice was in the background. “Sophie? What happened? Who is on the phone?! Why are you crying?”  
The man took over the conversation. “Who is it?”  
“Doesn´t matter! It´s about Gary and his goddamn afterlife! If you don´t tell him that you kept on living, he´ll never be able do whatever dead souls do after they leave!”  
Calm the man responded. “Never dare to contact us again or I will contact the police.”  
The line was cut.  
After a minute of silence, Simon patted his back. “It… uh… wasn´t all… I mean, it wasn´t…”  
“It went horrible.”  
Gary also petted his back, or at least the part he could reach. “It´s… really it´s okay… my family wants to move on and it has been a year… maybe it´s time to let them go a-and…”  
All of a sudden PG´s head began ringing again.  
Quickly he handed Mike the receiver, who was unsure of what to expect. “Hello…?”  
“Here is… Sophie Baker, again…” She was whispering now, her voice still disrupted by small hiccups. “Y-you said, my sweet Gary is with you…?”  
“Well, his soul.”  
“Prove it. T-tell me something only he could know…”  
Gary shortly thought and then began talking, Mike giving his best to keep up. “His room was green, his favorite color, he kept saying that his favorite toy was his racecar, but you and he always knew that it was actually his plushie that he called Mr. Muffels, because it was muffled when his father talked through it, pretending to be the Teddy bear. He had a lot of friends in school, but especially liked someone called Joe, who was always scuffled and dirty, since he played outside so much. You didn´t really liked them spending time with each other, since you feared him getting bad manners, but your husband always said that it was just was what boys liked to do in that age. He loved the Fredbear&Friends Cartoon, unfortunately and always sneaked to watch it at six AM, until you password protected your TV, which made him reject his food for three days, until you made him his favorite dish and he broke down. Do I need to go on? My throat is getting dry…”  
Mike had expected that the woman would began to sob again, but somehow she had calmed. “No. I… I believe you. Even if I probably shouldn´t.”  
“I don´t want any fucking money, I don´t want anything except you telling us how you are all doing and if life goes on.”  
“You´re a rude one… okay, okay, Gary… Gary hears me, right?”  
The boy next to Mike sniffled as well.  
“Yes.”  
“Okay. Gary. My dear sweet Gary…” Her stuttering and hiccups began again. “We… we miss you so much. You were a sunshine in our life… but we are giving our best. Nicole slowly gets used to not having you around to play with and… we actually did get her a cat, to keep her company…”  
“WHAT?! BUT I NEVER GOT A DOG!” Gary was offended, but the human decided to not tell her.  
“… Your father is often tired, but he stands brave, He´s there for all of us… but sometimes I don´t know if it is that good for him. I´m trying to help with that.” Her voice trailed off. “And I… Gary… are you happy?”  
“He… no one who gets killed can be really happy, but he isn´t alone here. And hearing that you all doing your best helps. He feels guilty, because he followed the killer…”  
“HE SHOULDN`T FEEL GUILTY! DOES HE KNOW WHO KILLED HIM?! SO WE CAN GET THAT PIG INTO HELL?”  
“Miss, don´t scream at me! No he doesn´t and is sorry… he just wishes that he could do something for you.”  
“S-sorry… I have to stop talking soon. If Gary is okay… then I´m okay too. There is something beautiful waiting for you, Gary! A paradise, or something equally as happy… and we will meet there! We will meet again and be a family…”  
Gary took off his mask, with a golden smile. “Tell her I have time. I will wait as long as it takes and the longer, the better. They should have a lot to tell me when they join me!”  
Compliant Mike told her and added his own words to it. “… Thank you for listening. Thank you for saving your kid.”  
“No. Thank you. It´s good to know he can leave peacefully. I will… I will do my best and fill my life with memories to show to him!”  
“Goodbye, miss.”  
“Goodbye, kind sir.”  
Feeling freed as well, Mike smiled softly placed the receiver back onto his friend. “THAT`S what I´d call successful! We did it!”  
“I´m impressed AND surprised! Didn´t expect her to call again… I guess you just have something earnest about you.”  
But Mike couldn´t answer as he was distracted by all of the golden children hugging and cheering for the last of them.  
“YOU DID IT GARY!”  
“ABOUT TIME!”  
“WE KNEW YOU WOULD DO IT!”  
“WE WOULDN´T HAVE LEFT WITHOUT YOU!”  
They were crying out of happiness, as the danced and jumped. Finally they began to circle Mike, who wasn´t sure if he wanted to be part of this, but didn´t move anyway.  
Sally hugged him first. “We´re almost free!”  
Tom snuggled into him second. “Thank you for everything!”  
Richard´s hug was a bit shyer, but sweet. “We actually have one last question to ask…”  
Suzy squeezed him tight. “But that is actually just because we like you so much!”  
Gary didn´t let him go for a long time. “ATTEND OUR HAPPIEST DAY!”  
Confused Mike watched them squealing. “Happiest day?”  
“Our party! We hold one, because, well… out first one went…”  
“We all died there, so we want compensation!”  
“Wouldn´t have been that straight-forward, but…” Sally shook her head at Suzy.  
Mike sighed. One last event, before letting them leave.  
Maybe he would even miss them. A little. A teeny-tiny bit.  
“Yeah, I´ll be there. When and where?”  
Richard smirked. “We could do it everywhere, but… we decided something. How about we do it in the saferoom? In two days?”  
Tom nodded seriously. “You wouldn´t have to go out of your way to come and we wouldn´t be bothered.”  
Suzy yawned. “Also, the Fredbear suit is in there.”  
Sally actually appeared bothered. “Suzy, don´t talk so much, it´s…”  
“What has the Fredbear suit to do with it?”  
“Uh… well… we will tell you then, okay? It´s a surprise!” Reassuringly the girl took his hand shortly. “Thank you for saying yes!”  
Mike looked up and noticed the worried Phone Guy, who probably got unnerved by him interacting with invisible people. Carefully to avoid said people, Mike joined his side.  
“Uh… did it work out? You sure look… happy…”  
“We did it! I don´t know how often I´ll say that bullshit in the next week, but fucking hell, we are the best! Thank you for getting the number! Without you I´d probably failed…”  
“You flatter me too much… you would have figured something out.”  
“Yes, but that doesn´t mean this is far better!”  
Simon laughed at that nonchalant display of confidence… or arrogance, if you were mean. “Okay, let´s make sure that no one is left in the building, close it down and then you can leave for the day.”  
“What about the nightshift?”  
“What about it? I´ll take care of it. You deserve some rest after all this chaos.”  
“Fuck you.”  
Irritated Phone Guy tilted his head. “What?”  
“Do I LOOK like I can SLEEP NOW? I did a fucking miracle and saved kids! Not to mention that said kids probably keep me from closing my fucking eyes, since they are basically golden disco-balls!”  
“U-uh…”  
“So, how about we stay here together! Let´s troll the animatronics! Make some traps, confuse them! Let´s SCARE them! They´re fucking pussies, we could just catch them and scream loud and they freak out!” Mike´s eyes had a mischievous glow inside of them and his grin was slightly worrying, but filled with energy.  
“Freeing one pack of kids, just to pester another?”  
“Ah, shut it! If I have to forgive them for trying to kill me, they can forgive me for making fun of them!”  
“Sounds fair.”  
Smiling they began setting up for the night, one that would surely be quite entertaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School times are coming, so I´ll update a little less… I´m really sorry and honestly that will bother me more than you guys, since I´m comment-addicted ^^”  
> While at comments, I sometimes wonder what happens to the people who just comment one time… I always try my best to assume that they just prefer to lay back and enjoy, but… welp, I´m angsty as fuck and just think they got bored.  
> On that topic, special greetings to a guest called Nyuro who twice took time out of their day to point out a few mistakes for me to correct them! Whatever you´re doing, I hope you´re fine!  
> NOW ONTO THE NEWS, DAYSHIFT AT FREDDY´S 3 IS BEING MADE AND MY INSECURITY IS TEARING ME APART, BECAUSE MY SHITTY WRITING WILL BE EXPOSED, BUT I´M ALSO HAPPY BECAUSE MORE DAYSHIFT! HOW ARE YOU GUYS THINKING ABOUT IT?


	19. False expectations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Say he went mad and lured them back, smashed them all up to bits…  
> They said not to climb inside it, cause it was prone to fits!  
> Sealed it away they just hid their error, locked all the slain from sight!  
> Spring loaded traps that unleash their terror, how did he last five nights? 
> 
> Madame Macabre – Springtrap (Five Night´s at Freddy´s 3 Song)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m sorry for this chapter, there´s going to be some bad times here. On the bright side, the next chapter will be out next week as compensation :3

Twelve o´clock.  
Noon. Thankfully.  
Agitated Mike kept checking the clock on the wall.  
It was too quiet for this time of the day.  
He was alone, except of the golden children, but even they kept quiet and simply whispered with each other, sometimes walking out and explored the building.  
There was a lot new to see, after all they were on an upper floor of a prestige hospital.  
One past twelve.  
It was worrying how restless he felt.  
How painful the silence was for his ears.  
He didn´t even LIKED having people around, he fucking HATED it, but knowing that Freddy´s doors had already opened for customers gave him chills.  
If his appointment was postponed by… five more minutes, he would just leave and get back to work.  
Mike rubbed his temples.  
This was getting freaky.  
Steps came closer, the door was opened and a friendly smile stood there.  
“Doctor Deern is now ready to see you.”  
“Would have been fucking surprised if it was someone else who suddenly wanted to see me.”  
But since it didn´t matter anyway, as well as Mike wanting to get it over with, he stood up and entered the warmly colored room, filled with the usual couches and images of colorful dots.  
Dr. Deern was sitting on one side, making some last notes, before putting the small book away and smiling friendly at him. Courteous he stood up and shook his hand.  
“Mike! It´s been a while.”  
“Hey Doctor Deern. Can´t say I missed you.”  
Slightly chuckling the old man shook his head. “Can´t say I expected anything else. Sit down, tell me what and how you´re doing at the moment.”  
“Well…” Shortly Mike glanced at the children how had begun making fun of the portraits. “… I now work with kids.”  
“What? Please don´t take it wrong, but I am surprised…”  
“Yeah, at first I actually wanted to take the nightshift, but… uh… I kinda got promoted… I work at my local Freddy´s now.”  
“Freddy´s?!” Mike frowned, but Deern had already noticed his confusion. “Oh, that is… fitting. For many reasons, mainly because a good friend of mine, the one encouraging me to take your case had worked there as well. He passed away years ago, so you wouldn´t have met him, sadly.”  
“I would say that I´m sorry for your loss, but I don´t really care.”  
“Brutally honest. While we´re at brutally… the medicine doesn´t causes any trouble, does it? You haven´t complained, but last time you didn´t as well, despite the various side effects.”  
“There aren´t any.” Maybe he blurted it out to quickly, but Deern was giving him an odd look. “I mean, it makes me tired if I take too many at once.”  
“You take sometimes more than one? I´ve warned you myself, that is risky and possible unhealthy.”  
“Haven´t taken more than three at once yet, but it didn´t do more than making me feel dizzy. I mean, if you don´t count that it got rid of the hallucinations, but that´s a given.”  
With a quick use of the pen he carefully wrote that information down and continued, with a keen interest. “What kind of hallucinations do you experience?”  
Oh… grey ghosts, murderous machines and a pink person.  
“The same as before.”  
“Are you sure…? Your usage of your pills seem to have gone up. Do you have any kind of different associations? Do they appear more frequent, or do they change forms more often?”  
“No. Everything from simple disassociation to full blown people talking to me, but they stay the way they are once they appear. And to the… uh… usage… well, I´m not really good with kids, they stress me out.”  
A small smile showed on the old man´s face. “You´ve picked up some vocabulary, I see.”  
“It´s your fucking favorite word… “Disassociation”. I don´t even get what´s so important about it. I associate and disassociate whenever I want!”  
“That might be the problem, Mike.”  
“What about that is supposed to be-” Shortly the Guard stopped, as in the background the golden children began to throw around some of the ornaments. Dr. Deern gave him a strange look.  
“Are you having trouble…?”  
“N-no. Just remembered that… uh… I forgot something at work…”  
The psychologist frowned, taken aback by that odd change in his patient´s behavior. “To return to the topic of your medicine… we are currently working on a replacement that is easier to afford and produce. I would recommend to reduce your consumption of your current medicine, so possible side effects will be avoided.”  
“Yeah… no problem, I guess…” Mike still kept focused on the chaos that was going on in the background. There was no way to stop the children without getting forced to stay overnight and being observed.  
“If possible I will get into contact with your employer, so we can keep you here for three days, to ensure any side effects will be dealt with immediately.”  
“God, is that really needed… I fucking hate it here!”  
Suzy was carrying a glass ornament and showed her tongue, probably planning on smashing it as soon as it was inconvenient.  
The Guard didn´t even cared anymore. “Dr. Deern, could I have a glass of water?”  
“Of course.” As the psychologist stood up and stopped, completely stunned. Everything had changed place. “Uh…”  
He blinked a few times, yet ignored it skillfully and left the room. Mike quickly took the opportunity to tell the children off.  
“Goddammit, stop fucking around! You´ll get me in trouble and then we won´t be able to have your shitty party!”  
Sally sighed and nodded. “Okay guys, let´s check out what the dusty old man hides in his closet!”  
They roared and Mike decided it wasn´t even worth anything. This was their last day on earth or something, so to hell with the rules and regards for others!  
Dr. Deern reentered and looked around, again pausing since everything had stayed in changed places.  
His patient watched him with slight compassion, knowing that situation far too well. “Thanks, Deern. Are we finished?”  
Surprised he sat down again. “Are you in a rush?”  
“Yeah, kinda need the money from my job and hoped I would be able to have at least a few hours of work today.”  
“In that case, we will do the regular test and if nothing is out of the ordinary, you´ll be allowed to leave.”  
“Sounds good.” Sighing Mike checked the clock.  
12:35.  
If he was lucky it would only take three hours. Plenty of time to sneak in for a private party.  
He changed his brain into auto-pilot and allowed the time to wash over him and swallow him whole.  
Four hours later he was standing in front of the giant building, not entirely sure what happened, but feeling the empty existential dread he usually did, so it most likely was nothing to worry about.  
Tom couldn´t keep quiet anymore and began to laugh his shit-eating laughter, but this time the others joined in.  
“HAPPIEST DAY! HAPPIEST DAY!”  
They danced around Mike and dragged him forward, not able to wait.  
Pretending to walk extra slowly, he managed to get them into a state of impatience that their vibration was making them look almost like smudges of golden color on a paper. Smirking about their inability to calm down for just a minute, the human entered the bus.  
As to be expected, it was overly full.  
At the end of their journey the smile was gone and the bus had blood splattered everywhere. Cleaning his just as bloodied fist he wandered towards the entrance of Freddy´s, ensuring that no one saw him, because  
A. Explaining the blood would take a lot of time he wasn´t ready to spend and  
B. He didn´t wanted anyone (okay, only PG would do that) coming to look for him if he was away for too long.  
Thankfully, Freddy´s was busy today, so he could sneak from crowd to crowd. The children were leading him, being on the lookout for the others and giving a thumbs-up when it was safe to go.  
Smiling somewhat relieved Mike followed them into the saferoom. Their giggles were loud enough to still be audible through the open door.  
Before he could enter though, the puppet was standing in front of him, or at least what remained of its soul and watched him unhappy.  
You shouldn´t go in there.  
“What the fuck?”  
Mike… you don´t… you don´t understand anything. You don´t understand them!  
“Fuck you, I don´t have to listen to more of your bullshit.”  
Do you remember the special feature of the Toys, Mike? The thing that set them apart from the old models? There is your problem, you think you´re hot shit, you´re so smart and so observant, just because you had luck with your guesses until now. Well, you aren´t as smart as you think. You haven´t paid ANY attention, Michael! You don´t understand ANYTHING!  
“For the last time. My name. Is not. MICHAEL. Fuck off now, before I break you apart.”  
With glowing eyes, its smile returned, but his tear stains became more intense as well.  
Your decision.  
“Indeed, well-fucking-observed!”  
And with that the spirit vanished, leaving Mike growling that the pretentious piece of shit, who dared to interrupt the happiest day. Fuck him and his ominous bullshit!  
Sally peeked outside of the door, getting impatient. “Mike, hurry! Before the soda loses all its bubbles!”  
“I´m here, I´m here, no need to rush…” Calmly and extra slow he entered the saferoom, just to forget all his previous intention as he saw it.  
The space had completely changed. Only Spring-Bonnie and Spring-Freddy reminded him that there was actually once a backroom here, everything else was… a party room! Decorations on the wall, from pictures, over balloons, until his eyes stayed glued to the flashing, colorful lights which spelled out “Happy Birthday!”  
It also felt quite a lot bigger than it usually appeared… a giant table, with an even bigger cake on top of it. Many bottles filled with different sugary liquids that would probably give anyone diabetes, but thankfully they were already dead, so no worries there.  
Music played in the background, not the usual cheesy, overly-cheery music of Freddy´s that Mike had gotten used to ignore, to preserve his own sanity, but a softer, almost bittersweet melody.  
In some sort of hidden awe Mike slowly sat down and looked around, but was pushed off the chair immediately, by the gaggle of laughing children.  
They snickered and took turns masking him, rating how good he would be as the animatronic in question. All-time favorite was Toy-Chica.  
Mike couldn´t concentrate on anything happening, it was as if everything was blurry and far away. Maybe it was. The afterlife was known to keep its distance to the real world after all…  
Their words were almost like multiple whispers as they became brighter and brighter over the time at the party.  
Slowly a sense of unease crept up in his mind. He sung the songs, he played the games, but he couldn´t… focus. Yes, it might was because of the fact that this place didn´t exist, but it also could be a fit…  
He couldn´t take the pills, not on their last party together.  
Tom was having a grimace contest with Richard, Gary and Suzy were the critical judges. Sally joined the human´s side and asked him if he wanted another slice of cake.  
It tasted like sweet dust.  
After what felt like an eternity, they took their masks back and wore them with pride, sitting all around the table, staring at Mike.  
A hint of reality came back and dumbfounded the guy shook his head. “Would… would you repeat yourself? I kinda space out right now…”  
“The suit! Please wear the suit for us, Mike!”  
“What the fuck? Why?”  
“Because this is our party! And Freddy´s parties have entertainers!”  
“I don´t want to fucking entertain you?”  
They snickered among each other, before Richard smugly replied. “Well, too bad, you´re doing it right now!”  
Tom thankfully didn´t laugh, but smiled. “Please Mike! Just wear it, it´s our last present after all… you´ll get something from us too!”  
Sally nodded. “It´s a win-win!”  
Gary stood aside with Suzy, who was holding his hand. They stayed quiet, but were probably grinning their asses off…  
Defeated the Guard sighed and walked over to the horror-suit, ready for at least ten minutes of sweaty, uncomfortable annoyance.  
He began with the legs, finally having listened to the tapes and noticed that he was shit out of luck if he nudges the parts the wrong way. No wonder Phone Guy was so shocked after he heard that Mike hadn´t listened to the tapes yet, it was quite a miracle that the bolts kept in place.  
Lastly he slipped on the head, immediately being irritated with the stale air inside of it.  
God in heaven, hopefully they didn´t want to dance with him.  
Everyone was intensely staring at him, the atmosphere was filled with a prickle of excitement. Obviously they were expecting something, but in his haze he couldn´t figure out what…  
Sighing he opened his arms for a hug. “Let´s celebrate!”  
Screeching they all surrounded him and hugged him from all sides, glowing brightly in the golden shine of life.  
“Thank you, Mike.” Tom let go of him first, too shy, too knowing how obnoxious he had been in the past to stick around any further. “We will see each other again… and then we will make some thunder!”  
His light became blinding and he was gone. The mask fell onto the ground.  
“Good job, Mike!” Richard snickered as he stepped back. “When we meet again, I´m gonna hand you a guitar and then we´ll see who sounds like a dying cat!”  
His light became blinding and he was gone. The mask fell onto the ground.  
“I loved it with you, Mike! You might be pretty stupid, but at least you´re not a creep!” Chica winked at him, as she got some space between them again. “But… I kinda would have liked to see your reaction to the PRON. Maybe when we meet again~”  
Her light became blinding and she was gone. The mask fell onto the ground.  
“Mike…” Gary made a step back and fiddled with his hands. “Mike, we- I don´t know how to say it, but you really shouldn´t-”  
Suzy hissed. “Hurry up Gary, don´t be such a cry baby!”  
The boy winced. “I´m… sorry Mike. I wish I could have done more for you. Thank you for everything.”  
His light became blinding and he was gone. The mask fell onto the ground.  
Now Suzy jumped back, excited as never before. “MIKE! I´ll be honest, when you first destroyed my broken body, I was angry. I really wanted you dead, more than anything else. I thought you were a violent asshole, a monster like many here! I hoped you would go to hell.”  
“Well…?”  
“Yeah, yeah, don´t spoil it! I was wrong, I´m sorry… You´re a good guy. Even if you´re shit at carving figures!”  
“IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I EVER DONE IT, GIVE ME A BREAK!”  
Laughing brightly Suzy shook her head. “Your temper is shit too!”  
“Your fucking temper is shit, you were the one cunt who annoyed me the most!”  
“You were the asshole who never wanted to apologize!”  
Mike couldn´t helped but smirk a little. “Lucky you that you don´t have to see me ever again.”  
The girl took off her mask, her face surprisingly sad. Suddenly she hugged him once more tightly. “I don´t want to leave you… You´re my friend now!”  
“Suzy… for fuck´s sake, don´t make it more complicated than it needs to be. You can´t stick around, doesn´t that hurt you?”  
“Yes… I won´t stay, don´t worry about me.” She snuggled into the soft fur of the suit. A moment passed before she made a jump back, her whole face glowing in pride. “That´s why I´ll take you with me to heaven!”  
Out of her hand fell six bolts and some other mechanical scraps.  
Reality crashed back.  
There was no music.  
There was no light.  
There was no cake.  
Just him and a spirit in a filthy backroom with a handful of vital parts of a deadly suit on the ground.  
Mike had listened to the tapes.  
Blankly he stared down at the nuts and bolts.  
“Don´t be scared Mike! Heaven will be wonderful! And… if you don´t go to heaven, Fredbear will give you life again, so you can help more children like me!”  
Slow breathing, don´t nudge anything anymore. The suit hadn´t snapped just yet, maybe if he-  
“Ahh… why does Fredbear take so long?! Go! Crush him! Let him come along!” Suzy growled, annoyed. “Whatever, I´ll just take a few more…”  
Violently the door swung open.  
It was the Orange Guy.  
Out of breath and terrified, he stared at the ghost, who´s grin became almost animal.  
Once more Mike couldn´t help but wonder if Orange had seen them all the time or if just now something had changed.  
“Y-you! What are you doing?!” Old Sport was faking some sort of authoritarian tone. “Mike? What is going on? Why is a ghost child in this room? Shouldn´t you keep your ghosts at home?”  
“Well, actually… since when can you see them? I had them around for the last months.”  
Suzy snarled. “I let him see me, because he should see what is going to kill him!”  
She stepped closer, aggressively showing her teeth. “Kidden strangler! Zombie! Your lack of a soul ensures you a place in the void!”  
Old Sport became angry as well. “Shut up! I helped you and your friends out, it wasn´t anything personal! And now, what have you done to Mike? Why is he wearing a suit?!”  
“We´ve made him wear it to take him with us!”  
“WHAT?!”  
“Either he comes with us, or he stays with Fredbear! I only need a few more bolts…”  
“DON`T YOU DARE! LEAVE HIM ALONE! DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU´RE DOING!? IF YOU TOUCH MIKE, YOU WON`T LIKE WHAT FOLLOWS! I WON`T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!”  
Suzy put her mask back on and continuously stepped closer, her body darken with every moment.  
“Ha. Ha. HA!” Smugly she ripped into the suit again, her hands appearing more like claws.  
Now even his heartbeat posed a threat. Every beat was nudging his body a little closer to death.  
He could feel his body pulsating.  
One beat. Ba-dum.  
Another one. Ba-dum.  
Mike gave his best not to move, not to jerk back and trigger the springlocks. It was hard, since the view was disgusting. Suzy´s mask had darkened with the body, becoming fleshy, as if replacing its face.  
Oh god, it actually was now the face. Black goo dripped out of the long snout, the thing had become quite a bit bigger… monstrous even.  
“Maybe Fredbear doesn´t react because of YOU! BUT THAT CAN BE FIXED!”  
Still, despite her now actually appearing threatening, Orange Guy suddenly became perfectly calm. Dark smile, lightless eyes.  
“Brat.”  
The monster screeched its horrible, but all too familiar scream and jumped forward, in a second that stretched into an eternity Mike watched in dull terror the corrupted kid attacking the Guard.  
Hot and dry, the air almost burned his throat.  
Orange Guy´s reached for his attacker, suddenly a giant maw ripping open in his throat as he grabbed the creature and began stuffing it inside of him, ignoring the unholy screaming echoing all around him.  
“NO!” Mike didn´t want to see this, he didn´t want this to happen at all, but in this thoughtless gut-reaction he had raised his arm and-  
I´m sorry Mike, I can´t stop it anymore.  
Click, click, click, CRACK.  
Countless pieces of metal yanked forward penetrating his skin and flesh, probably his organs as well, but Mike couldn´t differentiate since the pain was far too intense to think or concentrate on anything.  
His brain was overloaded and filled with white noise, as he tried to open his mouth to do or say something, but nothing came out, except blood out of his throat, bubbling and drenching his collar. Painfully he sucked air through his mouth, feeling how most of it escaped out of the countless holes now decorating his body.  
“MIKE!” Old Sport´s eyes lit back up as he rushed to his side, panicking. “D-don´t move, don´t…”  
The man couldn´t even move if he tried, his muscle cords were severed and he couldn´t feel most of his fingers. Probably a good thing, as his body parts he was able to feel were torn apart, string by string flesh and muscle snapped, each and every jolting a crescendo of pain through his overactive nerves.  
A few seconds Orange Guy loomed over him with shaking hands. “You… Don´t even try to talk, it will come out jumbled anyway. Now, there are metal parts in every of your vital organ. You have about two hours if you´re lucky. If you´re unlucky it won´t stop until tomorrow. It took ten hours for me.”  
His glow pulsated, changing between painful bright and almost invisible, mirroring in some tears that welled up in his eyes.  
“I should have known better than letting you on your own against the kids. I should have known better than expecting the souls to have changed. I´m sorry, Mike. It´s my fault.”  
By all the Guard could tell through his haze of pain, he was serious.  
He never had seen him sad. He didn´t even thought this orange-skinned abomination could feel those negative emotions.  
“But don´t worry, at least I´ll make it quick. I won´t let you become like me. Let me just… let you bleed out. It´s peaceful, believe me, I tried it.” With that he began ripping out the metal, making the blood pour out in a rapid pace.  
Slowly as the heat left his body, he began shivering. Tired he closed his eyes.  
Was this how he ended?  
In a filthy backspace, because a stupid piece of shit decided to kill him?  
A stupid piece of shit that had called him a friend?  
A stupid piece of shit that was absorbed by someone else in the most disturbing way possible?  
No.  
NO.  
NO!  
This wouldn´t be the end.  
Old Sport stepped back, frowning. “You´re… still breathing! Impressive… you must have a lot of blood in your body… do you want me to... uh… end your suffering…?”  
Mike could only stare, since his vocal cords weren´t functioning anymore, but even before he could move his head or give any other sign of disagreement, the Orange Guy began to convulse and shake, trying to puke, as dark smoke released out of his mouth.  
More and more smoke came out of the choking man, who fell onto his knees trying to get it out, shivering and shaking. It was obvious he couldn´t breathe anymore and was terrified, his glow not being more than small, fearful dots.  
He reached out for Mike, who didn´t knew what he could do or why Orange did it. It came clearer he snatched one of the metal shards.  
Now he grinned wide, despite the smoke.  
And slit his throat with one solid movement.  
Thick, black goo began to escape and almost immediately vaporize as it came in contact with the air.  
He collapsed.  
Mike couldn´t stay awake anymore, even if he began to feel aggressive again.  
Why did this stupid kid do this?  
Why and HOW did Orange Guy stop her?  
Why did this HAPPEN?  
Why…?!  
He woke up lying on the cold ground of the saferoom, free from the suit. Orange Guy was facing away from him, apparently focused on the Fredbear-suit.  
“Would you mind answering me a few questions, Mr. Schmidt?”  
Barely understanding what was going on, Mike snarled.  
“Did you ever talk to Fredbear? Did he ever answer you?”  
“I´m… not talking… to objects…”  
“Hm. Understandable. You prefer ghost and illusions after all.” Orange Guy turned around, with a black smile on his lips, his eyes filled with dark amusement. “Are you recovering? I would prefer not to explain your… partner… what happened back in this room, seeing as it is highly possible that said partner would place blame on me.”  
Mike didn´t want to talk to him. He didn´t want to look at him either.  
He stepped closer, yanking his arm painfully up to inspect his scars. “You are remarkable, Mr. Schmidt. I have never encountered this kind of anomaly before and have to admit to be intrigued by your case, as well as impressed by you as a person.”  
“Fuck off, before I manage to feel my fists again and begin to punch you dead.”  
“May your manners better with time. It would be devastating if the first creature to achieve immortality would be unsophisticated and only able to communicate in profanities.” He once more raised the Fredbear-head and stared into its empty sockets. “Correction: First creature to achieve immortality by accident… Which does not diminish how impressive that feat is.”  
“Who… who the FUCK are you!?”  
“Tsk, Mr. Schmidt… that would ruin the hunt for knowledge.”  
“Y-you´re that pink dude, aren´t you?! I… I´ve seen you! You weren´t real!”  
Disgusted he shook his head. “Dude… what a despicable term. Please feel free to call me dude, seeing as you will do whatever you want anyway. I recognize discussions I will not win.”  
Smirking he exited into the light. “Before I forget, I want to express my gratitude for… the energy you so magnanimously provided. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, without your escapade I would have needed far more careful plotting to claim what is mine.”  
The cynical guy didn´t actually wanted to answer that stuck-up piece of cancerous cock. He really felt hate flowing through his mind.  
“I´ll kill you.”  
“What an unnecessary aggressive answer. Did I harm you?”  
“You´re fucking words give me CANCER. I´m so sick of your existence already…”  
“Considering my vocabulary as personal offence against you is childish, Mr. Schmidt.”  
“FUCK OFF I SAID!” Growling he forced his body upwards, his eyes lighting up. “Fuck off as long as you can. Because I´ll get you, wherever you go!”  
“You are a mystery. Whenever your paths crossed before I was nothing short of courteous and respectful.”  
“Fuck courtesy! Whatever you are, you´re literally possessing my-”  
“My…? He is not your friend now, is he? Where would be the loss for you if he disappeared? Remind you, he was not only the one erasing the life of the spirits that accompanied you, but also at fault for a considerable amount of your partner´s trauma.”  
“I… I… FUCKING CUNT! DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE?! I DON`T CARE HOW MUCH OF A PIECE OF SHIT OLD SPORT WAS, AT LEAST HE DIDN`T ANNOY THE FUCK OUT OF ME! I HAVE STANDARDS! Next to the fact that I´m no fucking judge, the fuck do I know how evil someone is! For all I know, and my gut is pretty clear on that, you´re most likely even worse!”  
“Intuition instead of logic…” He laughed. “Really, the last case where someone intrigued me on this scale was William and that has been twenty years, if you do not count my absence.”  
“Who the fuck is William?”  
“Ah… I am getting emotional… but I cannot help it… ask your friend. He will surely tell you.” Grinning he stopped shortly before finally closing the door. “Truth be told… I was always a gambler, even if I pride myself in my ability to weigh risk and reward.”  
And so Mike was left alone in the darkness, slowly falling back down out of sheer exhaustion. This had been too much.  
His arms were scarred, yet he could almost watch them disappear, it was that quick.  
What the FUCK was going on?  
Did this… happen…?  
There was actually a pretty big chance that he had hallucinated in the end, after all, while attending the party, he felt his condition worsening…  
Where was Simon?  
He told the guy that he wouldn´t be here today, because of his appointment, but maybe that had been a mistake.  
Now once more having a reason to try, he forced himself up and left the saferoom, desperate to hear his calming voice.  
Finally he spotted him talking to Chica.  
He practically dragged himself over and as soon as he was close enough, he put his arms around him and stumbled over.  
“M-Mike?! What are you doing… h-here… Is that blood?” More than just worried PG hugged him back, his phone head working so quickly that it slowly grew hot. “What happened?”  
“I was wrong.”  
“How? About w-what?”  
Mike didn´t answer as he already drifted into the sweet world made of dreams. Helpless Phone Guy held him in his arms, unsure what his options were.  
It was almost closing time as well… Jeremy had excused himself a little bit earlier, since he took Marion to some weird movie about magical girls or something…  
For Foxy´s sake!  
Sighing he brought him towards the office, seeing as the torn, drenched in blood clothing probably would attract a lot of negative attention that Mike didn´t deserve. After letting him carefully down on the chair, he noticed to his terror an uncountable amount of scars on his friend´s body. They were thin and probably very old, but he hadn´t seen them the last time he had taken care of Mike.  
They should talk.  
Somewhere safe.  
Grinding his dial, PG went towards his orange employee and put a hand on his shoulder. “Employee? You will take the nightshift.”  
Dave perked up, smiling motivated. “We´re getting the nightshift?! Holy fuck! Yes!”  
Orange Guy stayed silent and smiled unsettling.  
In an impulse of disgust Phone Guy retracted his hand, wiping it on his leg unconsciously, stepping away backwards. “G-good. Don´t b-break anything.”  
“Gotcha chief!” Dave giggled like a little girl on Christmas. “Old Sport! It´s gonna be you, me and Alice!”  
“And the animatronics.”  
“And the animatronics, but who cares about them!?”  
“Be careful.”  
Irritated Dave sat back, uncomfortable with his friend´s weird tone. “Are you… alright, sportsy?”  
“Never felt better.”  
“Uhm… I´ll… check up on Freddy… see you in a minute.”  
„Do not strain yourself.”  
“I-I won´t!”  
On the whole way into the backroom he could feel those dark eyes burning into his back. And for the first time he didn´t liked to be looked at by his supposed friend.  
Time quickly passed by, as simply Orange Guy´s presence made the customers want to leave earlier than usual.  
Dave watched Old Sport staring out of the window, while Minireena had apparently preferred now to sit with the Purple Guy. Understandable.  
“The animatronic will not move this night. A shame.”  
“Wha… I mean, how do you know that?”  
“I know everything.”  
This was Henry. The way the Orange Guy turned his head a little towards him, smirking arrogantly, making fun of his situation. “A—ah, you do? What else do you know, huh?”  
“I know we will be visited tonight. Prepare a long rope, some lenses or sandpaper, whatever is easier for you to find and please a few needles.”  
“Y-you know I hate needles!”  
Irritated Orange Guy shortly stopped. “Still? Fine. I will take care of the needles. Get three plastic tubes and hurry.”  
With that the man had already left. Helpless Dave looked at Alice.  
“Something is off today…”  
She giggled sad.  
“Don´t let it drag you down, Alice. I´m sure he´ll get back on track soon…”  
After Dave had brought forth the requested items, Old Sport returned, and with returned it meant a real return! His glowing eyes were weak, but still there and his smile had warmth in it.  
“Dave! Dave! Look what I found! The Paper-pals! Phoney had hidden them, but I found them! Let´s hide it inside of the cameras, so they can´t show anything when used!”  
At this moment Purple Guy would have done anything for him. Just as long as he stays. “Sounds about right! I´m sure we don´t need this building much longer anyway…”  
The sudden outburst on energy in his friend was welcome, but still worrying. He bubbled like a soda. “Hey, Dave, I always wanted to call you Dabe! You know, you´re my Dave-Babe and Dabe just sounds funny!” Without a pause he continued with a completely different topic. “Isn´t it weird how docile the animatronics are tonight? It´s like they think we´re busy or something! Hahaha, it´s really cool how smart they actually are. But your Funtimes are MUCH smarter! We should really get them out and into the open!”  
Silently Dave took his hand, shutting him up for a moment. “What happened today?”  
“I-” Glass shattered in the distance and every light went out, including the ones in Old Sport´s eyes. “Time for a show.”  
The darkness was so thick that even Dave couldn´t make out anything more than faint movement next to him.  
Violent fighting was going on, but after a minute or so, the lights turned back on and a satisfied Orange Guy resting his elbows on a muffled man, who was staring out with panicked eyes. He tried to say something, but couldn´t get anything out.  
“I truthfully missed this sensation… Let us get started right away. I require sandpaper.”  
Almost apprehensively he was handed the requested object and humming he began rubbing it on the eyelids of their prisoner, relaxing.  
Of course the man began trashing around and tried to scream, making his torturer back off. “You are correct, I almost forgot the best part of these activates… Feel free to be beg or scream, but please keep in mind that you will not leave this establishment alive.”  
“HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME!”  
Humming the zombie continued with his actions, blood began dribbling out of one destroyed eye, so he began rubbing on the other, making him scream even harder.  
“PLEASE, I HAVE A WIFE AND A CHILD! I WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO F-FIX THE PIPES! I W-WON`T TELL ANYONE!”  
“Do you think you are telling me anything new? After all I was the one telling you to come. But nice of you to tell us about your family, it elevates the enjoyment I obtain from this activity. Please, do continue! How old is your child? Will she remember you after you die?”  
“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! WHY?”  
“To relax. I had quite a challenging last decade and this is perfect. Nothing is able to slow down your heartbeat like rhythmical exercises. If it gives you reason to hope: As soon as all your skin is bleeding, I will have to change tactics, as only lackluster friction will be created.”  
“YOU`RE SICK! LET ME GO, LET ME GO!”  
“I adore the reactions of captured humans. They are so… nonsensical. Now, let me get the needles, so I can- really- get- under- y-your skin-”  
Suddenly Old Sport stopped moving and looked up to Dave, panicked. “W-what´s happening?”  
But before Dave could give any kind of answer the man slit himself a wound on his wrist and continued as if nothing happened. He picked out a few needles, testing their sharpness shortly, before he carefully inserted them into the neck. “The tubes.”  
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? W-WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?!”  
In a sudden outburst he forced his victims mouth open and spiked his tongue with as much needles as possible, before punching his jaw upwards, connecting the needles, tongue and oral cavities.  
“Tubes.”  
“Old Sport…”  
“Bring. Me. The. TUBES.”  
Quickly Dave clenched his fists and decided.  
“Give me a sec.” Praying that he wouldn´t see through his intention, he slipped one hand into his pocket, carrying the required tubes in the other. “Here you go, let´s see your masterplan!”  
As soon as the unstable Guard accepted the item and began setting up, Dave gripped his knife tightly and pretended to tumble forward, sliding the knife right into the chest of their victim and immediately taking it back out to ensure a quick death.  
“What… Dave- No, we will skip the useless pretending. William… EXPLAIN THIS.”  
“William?”  
“It IS your real name after all. Clutching onto a false identity for no reason at all is childish. You cannot deny who you have been, except if you deny who you are, which would be harmful… would it not? There is no possible reasoning to utilize a false name while you are with me, is there?”  
“It… it was an accident! I fell and panicked and took the knife back before thinking…”  
“You clumsy insult to human ability… give me your knife.”  
“I don´t want to!”  
“William. Please. You will get it back.”  
Unhappy he handed his Christmas gift over and watched him beginning to skin the corpse, before simply bashing it inside of its head, again and again.  
Until his hand simply stopped in the middle of the movement.  
A while nothing happened, but then he smiled a black smile and gave it back. “Thank you. My mood has improved.”  
“Glad to hear that, Sportsy!”  
“William… will you grow up one day?”  
“Will you tell me what the fuck is going on? Why are you acting like…”  
Orange Guy didn´t react verbally and only smirked, tilting his head curiously.  
“Like…” Dave really didn´t want to say it.  
He honestly just wanted to forget about Henry.  
“Argh, let´s just move on. We have to bring the corpse to the kitchen and clean the floor…”  
“Y-yeah… of course…” Old Sport had snapped out of whatever it was and was staring at his bloodied fingers for a while. Out of the blue he began talking again, his voice shaking. “… You know... I like the name Dave…”  
Carefully Purple Guy wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “So do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh, I´d really love to have a beta-reader to point out any plotholes I might have written, so I can fix them… paranoia is getting best of me.  
> But whatever, this surely kicked up a notch, eh? Well, the end isn´t even close, so at least don´t worry about that x3 You´ll have some more months of this fanfic (I guess. Now if that is good or bad is probably your decision ^^”).  
> As always, tell me what you thought! *D* Whenever I need motivation to write I read your comments and feel instantly ready to continue!  
> Oh, by the way I now have an account on Wattpad (“Lucarioishere”) and wanted to hear your opinions… should I upload the story over there as well, or will those who want to read Dave/Old Sport find this story anyway? I don´t know how famous/accessible different sites are…


	20. Roasted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cause I´m the Phone Guy!  
> I´m here to take care of your fears!  
> Once your time ends here, I will not be here…  
> Yeah, I´m the Phone Guy, RING RING!  
> These are all the rules I bring!  
> There´s not a lot of time until I trust you to survive.  
> I´m the Phone Guy! TICK TOCK!  
> Watch the hours on the clock!  
> Time as arisen to be careful of decision you make!  
> I AM THE PHONE GUY! (hello, hello!)
> 
> Not here all Night – DAGames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready to embrace the darkness.  
> If anyone notices better grammer/spelling in this chapter, then go ahead and thank BadPinkUpLines for beta-reading! °D°

Phone Guy was brewing coffee as the laughter began. Panicking he ran towards the room he had left to Mike for the night, fearing that something was going wrong in there.  
The younger man was sitting on the bed, clutching his temples and laughing maniacally. Together with the scarred skin on his head, he appeared like a horrendous human-experiment and the toothy grin only worsened the impression.  
“HEYA PHONEY! WELCOME TO THE LOOP! WHERE EVERYTHING HAPPENS AGAIN AND AGAIN! I`M TONIGHTS HOST, THE WALKING DEAD MAN, SURPRISINGLY NOT THE ONLY ONE AROUND!”  
Almost violently Mike jumped up and for a second he appeared as if he came to strangle him, but instead PG was grabbed by his wrist and twirled around, making him fall backwards onto the bed.  
“Mike, what has gotten into you?! What happened yesterday? Why where you even there?!”  
“Oh, you know!” He put the hand in his pockets, still wearing the bloodied clothing from yesterday, snickering like mad. “The usual! Sneaking in to party with ghost, just to be BACKSTABBED by those kiddens, who apparently thought it would be nice for me to follow their gruesome fate, getting springlocked, you know, severed limbs, drowning on my own blood, pierced through every vital organ I have, just to be saved AGAIN by my FAVORITE serial killer, who suddenly goes haywire as well and is all high and mighty, “Mr. Schmidt” this and “Mr. Schmidt” that and acts like a fucking cunt! And now I´m AGAIN at your house, doing the same fucking thing like last time, making me think that this will never stop until I go ahead and kill some toddlers by myself!”  
Worried Simon stood back up, trying to calm him down. “Mike… Please, pause, just a minute… sit down and tell me about the springlocks.”  
Grinning while staring into nothing, Mike slammed down and buried his face in his hands, at least the mania in his voice had died down. “I told you I wouldn´t be there, because I didn´t want you to come look for me. The children had invited me to their last party, we celebrated in the saferoom. It was supposed to be their goodbye, so I took it quite seriously. We had cake, music and played games. It was fun. But well, apparently they had decided that I was more part of their group than I realized. Suzy ripped out part of my suit, the Fredbear suit that they asked me to wear before. Gary probably wanted to warn me… argh, doesn´t matter. Suzy didn´t rip out enough, the suit was still going strong and Orange came in, probably trying to save me and would have succeeded if it had targeted him instead of me. It didn´t and I say it, because while going insane she turned into that nightmare abomination. After almost finishing me off it attacked the Orange, who turned insane as well and ate it through a mouth in his throat. YES. THROAT. Began coughing like mad after asking me if I wanted to end it now, began choking, cut his throat open to get rid of the black goo that the monster had left inside of him. Did I forget anything?”  
Phone Guy would probably blink in confusion, but he only had a dial, so he simply stared.  
“Ah right! Orange turned into that weirdo I´ve seen before, I thought it was a hallucination, but hell, now apparently the psycho is possessed by some WORSE psycho that talks as if he pisses knowledge and that I hate FAR MORE than the orange piece of shit. He told me about a guy that impressed him… William or some shit. He said you might recognize the name.”  
“William? Uhh… I mean I know… Mike, l-let me first process this! S-so you say you died…”  
“I was literally and I mean LITERALLY completely impaled. If you think I managed to survive that by other means than tell me, I´d DIE to know!”  
“Okay, I get it! Let me just…” Now he mirrored Mike´s pose accidently. “The kids tried to kill you…?”  
“Facial recognition.”  
“What?!”  
“Facial recognition!” Impatient he repeated himself. “The Toys, their ability. Facial recognition and connection to a criminal database. Maybe our old models didn´t knew what they were doing, but they knew it perfectly well. They knew the Nightguards weren´t their killers, but they killed them anyway. They didn´t fucking care at all.”  
Sympathetic Simon patted his back. “It´s hard…  
“Hard? It´s fucking shit. It´s like saving someone´s life, just to realize that they are a FUCKING serial killer! I mean, that´s pretty fucking accurate, I´d say!” After saying that, he did something that almost made Phone Guy´s heart stop.  
He leant onto him, completely tired.  
“Now tell me, who the fuck is William?”  
“U-uh… W-william… uhm…” Desperately trying to focus, he focused onto the scars on Mike´s arms, scars that were slowly becoming… thinner…? “U-uh… okay… William…”  
“Simon, are you malfunctioning? Do you need me to punch your head until it works again?”  
“NO! S-sorry, I´m just… confused… William, right? I only know one William and he´s called William Afton, owner of Afton companies and former co-owner of Fredbear´s Family diner, together with Henry Miller, who-”  
“Ah…AHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAAA!” Mike stood up, walked towards the next wall and began to bash his head in.  
“MIKE! STOP!” Quickly he grabbed the man, who´s forehead was already bloody, eyes glowing dots. “Don´t h-hurt yourself!”  
“HE TOLD ME! HE MOTHERFUCKING TOLD ME! THAT MOTHERFUCKER LOOKED ME STRAIGHT IN THE EYE AND T O L D ME!”  
“What?! Who?”  
“Purple Guy. Vincent-Dave-piece-of-shit, the king of cunts, the visual aids!”  
“HE? William Afton?!”  
Mike fell back on the bed, groaning. “Or maybe not, but I´m pretty fucking sure by now. I mean, first piece of evidence! He told me so and that´s right his style. Secondly! He knows the robots more than everyone else. A fucking GUARD couldn´t know that much!”  
“Wait, you´re serious? The business man and two in a century talent? That freak?”  
“Can you google a picture of him? That would settled it.”  
Five minutes later they stared at the pictures.  
“Welp. You want to tell me you can´t see it?”  
“You mean the purple skin, the psychotic smile and the glowing eyes?”  
“Nah, fuck that, I mean the pose. OF COURSE THOSE FUCKING THINGS!”  
“I… I maybe should have googled pictures of that sooner. Okay, William Afton fakes his own disappearance, just… to work at Freddy´s? Why- I mean, his restaurant was sold after his partner died, but…”  
“Partner? Henry Miller, right?” He quickly scrolled down and stopped.  
Black eyes, black smile.  
What a cunt.  
Hopefully his death was painful.  
Death.  
Yeah. Death.  
And somehow he came back.  
And somehow he possessed Orange.  
Henry Miller.  
Mike stood up and powered the computer down aggressively. “What a waste of time.”  
“Huh?”  
“What does it do? I mean, look what does it help that we now know his name? He fucking chased me around, he fucking fooled me. He made me believe that I would gain something from knowing who he is. But I don´t.”  
The way Mike talked made Simon pause and wait for him to continue.  
“The only important thing is getting rid of him. Getting rid of everything. We need to stop the cycle, Simon.”  
“U-uh… Mike, what are you planning?”  
“Simon.” He stepped towards him and grabbed his shoulders. “I don´t need to know who this Henry Miller is to know that he´s not supposed to be here and to know that he´s the worst.”  
“You… don´t need to know…?”  
“We have to end it now. No more playing nice. We´ll get rid of the animatronics, we´ll get rid of the child murderers and then we will be on the run! Or something. As long as we destroy that fucked place, I´ll be happy.”  
“Mike… they will come for me.”  
“And I will protect you. I promised we would both achieve our dreams and we can´t while we are caged!”  
It was odd to see Mike´s fired up in this way. Not in the usual destructive hateful way, but pure energy to create. To do.  
“A-are you serious?”  
“Yes. Now, let´s get going. How can we kill them? Slicing their throats won´t CUT it!”  
“Ahhhhh… Mike… don´t….”  
“Sorry, when I´m stressed, my attitude to stupid wordplay PUNdamently changes. It´s actually the only way to keep myself sane.”  
“Mike, I- … I can´t believe I´m doing this. I´m actually going to fight Freddy´s… with… with you. Freaking heck…”  
“Simon, you´re free. SAY IT.”  
“A-ah… I don´t really…”  
“SAY IT.”  
“F… fffff….. F-f-f…” The next words were a silent murmur. “…fucking h-hell…”  
Mike snickered. “Cute.”  
“C-c-cute?!”  
Realizing what he just said the Guard burned up as well. “I- I mean- Whatever, let´s go! We have to come up with a plan and prepare a trap, so we should be at Freddy´s early!”  
Rushing outside, he almost forgot to put on his shoes.  
Needless to say that they didn´t managed to come up with anything until Jeremy wandered in, glowingly happy hugging his Marionette. This made Mike perk up.  
“Jerry! Can I borrow your nightmare- the Marionette for a minute?”  
“Uh… of course! But please, be nice to each other…”  
In its usually snake-like motion the Puppet freed itself from the hug and followed Mike to a corner.  
“You were right, Marion.”  
Oh, really? What a surprise.  
“I´m sorry.”  
Shocked the being paused.  
“I know you wanted to help me and I was an asshole. But now we have a real problem and I need your help.”  
My help…?  
“Henry Miller.”  
In an instant Marion had his claws exposed.  
How do you know that name?  
“He´s back.”  
HOW?  
“He took control over Orange. But don´t ask me how, rather tell me how to get rid of them again.”  
We need to act NOW. Henry is a force to be reckoned with and the longer he gets, the more likely he will be able to win the fight, no matter what we plan.  
“I´m ready when you are, but how can we kill something like that? I SAW HIM SLIT HIS OWN THROAT.”  
Burning him is the only option. There is not one single piece of the body allowed to exist, or he might regenerate.  
“Burning?”  
We have to use the gas pipes.  
“No problem, I can wreck them whenever needed. What about the animatronics? Can we burn them alongside?”  
For a heartbeat, Marion hesitated, but ultimately nodded.  
“Good. Let´s give them the day, so no one else gets hurt and maybe, hopefully, the firefighters need longer to get here.”  
A day might be enough for him to regain control!  
“Do you want to burn Jerry?”  
… Fine. We need to find a reason to get him into the main hall. I will take care of the rest.  
They nodded at each other, finally on the same page. A hint of kindness were in Marionettes next words.  
Thank you for working with me. I should have told you what the children were up to.  
“You know, I don´t fucking care anymore. I already dealt with playing nice with that one guy who tried to kill me, so as long as you help me ending it… results are right now all that I care about.”  
I´m… somewhat surprised we´re on the same side in the end.  
“So am I. I´ll go prepare the pipes, see you this evening.”  
Marion returned towards his friend and wrapped himself around him. Dreadful.  
“Was Mike nice, or should I talk to him?”  
Sorrowful he inspected the boy. After getting rid of Afton, Miller, Orange Guy and saving the children he would have to… leave…  
Leave him behind, wondering if he would be fine on his own.  
Quickly Marion shook those thoughts off. He couldn’t afford being worried about someone else than the kids, or he would might be stuck here forever.  
No, no… we had a nice chat.  
“About what?”  
I´ll tell you shortly before closing time.  
Time passed and Marion watched the children, the guards and the humans carefully. So, this was it, huh? The last day in this wrenched world. He hadn´t really… expected that. But it would be better on the other side.  
Hidden inside of the backpack, he peeked at Orange Guy.  
Indeed he was acting strange today, his body was twitching at seemingly random intervals. William stood next to him, apparently without any energy of himself. It was almost pitiable.  
This was his last day on earth. Not only for William Afton, Orange Guy and Henry Miller, but for him as well.  
The last time to be in this restaurant. Hearing this somewhat stupid, but nostalgic in this context. Seeing the customers walk and talk.  
Seeing anyone walk and talk.  
Maybe.  
And before he could even come to terms with the situation, the customers began to leave and Mike gave him a sign.  
Marionette softly tugged on Jeremy.  
Let´s go into the office shorty, I have to tell you something.  
“No problem!” Walking towards the office, he carefully listened to Marion´s pleas.  
About the children that could be freed with fire, a fact he had known already.  
About Henry Miller and William Afton and how important it was to get rid of them.  
About freedom.  
Of course, there were those abomination that called William their father, but… it was questionable if they were even able to be saved.  
Jeremy had silently listen and nodded from time to time. After the Puppet had finished, he smiled.  
“No. I won´t let you do that.”  
What?!  
“We won´t kill anyone. We aren´t bad people, Marion. We will help them change instead! And the kids, don´t they need their names to be freed?”  
What… what do you mean? I told you about Henry! We have to end it now! And the names would only make it easier, they aren´t obligatory.  
“No, Marion. I won´t help you kill anyone and if you keep trying I WILL stop you! Death is not the answer!”  
Jeremy… I´m sorry.  
“Why? I know you just want to help, but it´s-”  
The Marionette clawed into the neck of the young man.  
“I´m so very, very sorry.” His arms hanging dead by his side, he moved to the outside. Henry was having a conversation with Mike in front of the stage, but unexpectedly William had wandered off.  
Well, this body would give an easy solution. Slowly he stepped towards him, trying to play Jeremy as convincingly as possible.  
“Mister… uh, Dave, would you mind take a look at this?”  
The Purple Guy followed him, surprised. “What is it?”  
“The suit in the saferoom… it moves.”  
Grinning he rushed forward. “Oh, REALLY? That´s new!”  
“I think Fredbear wants to do something!”  
Mike shortly paused his own conversation as Jeremy touched his shoulder and whispered into his ear. “Take the Phone Guy and leave, after you ripped the gas pipes open, but make sure you let Jeremy out before you close the doors.” Louder he continued. “Mr. Orange Guy, w-would you mind come along as well? You two seem to know those old animatronics best…”  
“I was just having a pleasant conversation with Mr. Schmidt, I would prefer-”  
“No, I have to go now anyway. We have later time to talk.” Mike´s sour expression made it obvious he didn´t really wanted to.  
Slowly Mike stepped back, waiting for them to vanish around the corner. Now hurrying back, he ripped open the gas pipes.  
Phone Guy was standing next to the front door, ready for the big plans and Jeremy came bolting into the main hall, stumbling as soon as the puppet removed the thin metal connection between them.  
“Hey, Jeremy, he didn´t moved at all!” Dave skipped out of the backroom, accusingly.  
No. I lied.  
Menacingly the monster floated in the middle of the room, claws exposed and ready to fight if necessary. In one of them he held a lighter.  
“Hey, what´s going on here, boss?” Freddy came up, making Henry realize the situation in a split second.  
“You ungrateful kid.”  
But before he could move, the puppet activated the lighter.  
At least he tried to.  
Henry began laughing madly at the sad attempts of getting the plan to work. “Your fingers are too thin to create the friction needed to handle this kind of task. Despite that I applaud your effort, if you find solace in that.”  
Mike, who had caught Jeremy, looked up, his face contorted with anger, yet before he could stand up to take over, Dave had his gun out and pointed at him.  
“You might won´t die, but you´ll be pretty paralyzed if I get a good hit. So don´t.”  
Henry smiled smugly. “Marionette, please do us all a favor and crush the item in your hand, or we might have to eliminate every being around here capable of operating this tool and that would be a shame. Ten seconds or we will start with the boy.”  
Reluctant the animatronic clenched it in his fist and let the scraps fell onto the ground.  
“No…” Phone Guy stepped forward.  
“William, put away your weapon, they complied after all. It is time to return home.”  
No one said a word, not even the animatronics.  
But Phone Guy kept walking until he stood in the center of the room, his fists shaking. “I said no.”  
“You did indeed. Yet I am unable to percieve any sort of importance inside of this word, as it lacks any context.”  
“I´m the manager here. This is my establishment and there… there is something I should have said to you a long time ago.”  
“Is there? I am currently listening.”  
“… FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING COCKSUCKING CUNT OF LITERAL DECAY, I`M SICK OF YOUR SHIT!”  
Completely shaking the manager clenched his head a little, trying to ignore the constant beeping in his head.  
“Why do you do this? Now I will have to order a new version of you… what a hassle…”  
“AH?! YOU DO?! I DON`T FUCKING CARE! YOU KNOW WHAT, I WILL DO THAT MYSELF FOR YOU! BUT BEFORE THAT, HERE´S A CALL FOR YOU!”  
He began dialing in a number, while an unimpressed Orange Guy yawned. “Please refrain from screaming, my ears are in perfect condition and I would prefer to not ruin that.”  
High pitched error noises sounded almost like laughter and Mike wasn´t sure if he should be proud of the insults or panicking because of their failure.  
Slowly and in the absolute silence almost deafening, the dial began to roll towards its end. “You know where the fuck it´s from?!”  
Uncomfortable Dave stepped back, feeling that something was wrong with Phoney.  
“STRAIGHT FROM HELL!” With that he ripped off his receiver.  
The bare cables laid open, exposed to the gas.  
Henry couldn´t even do as much as widen his eyes in realization.  
“RING, RING, MOTHERFUCKER!”  
The cables tried to send the signal so the receiver would ring, but the electrical impulse found something else.  
Lots and lots of inflammable gas.  
BOOM.  
Fire and heat engulfed them quicker than expected, almost making Phone Guy unconscious.  
The ground shook under a second explosion and some parts of the roof already began to crash down. Dave had grabbed his friend’s hand, leading him towards an escape route, but the animatronics who had picked up on the plan blocked the way. Even Bonnie stood by their side.  
Fire cleanses the soul.  
Everyone knew that.  
And if the soul was so rotten that it couldn´t sustain itself… it was destroyed.  
“AND THUS YOU SACRIFICE YOUR OWN FRIEND IN THE END!” Henry screamed at the Marionette, grinning his black, hateful grin. His eyes flickered dark as he moved an arm upwards. “So be it. I should have known better, but at least we all will go, my dear, old friend.”  
The ceiling broke down onto Jeremy´s body and while Mike reacted quick enough to not get their heads bashed in, it landed on his leg, making him break down.  
Panicked the Puppet stood by their side, picking up Jeremy, while Simon was helping Mike up.  
In a desperate attempt Marion tugged on the door, a door that had been locked all of a sudden.  
Smirking Orange Guy stood in between the flames. “Never been to a haunted house before, I see. Foolish acts without careful plotting leads to an unpleasant end.”  
In a sudden and violent way Phone Guy grabbed a metal bar and handed Mike over to the Marionette, to step towards the taunting man.  
“Shut the fuck up, or I will press your face personally into a pile of burning trash. No, that wouldn´t be enough… before you die, I´ll shove this metal so far up your ass, you´ll choke on it. What did your mother fuck to get an abomination like you?” Ignorant of the smoking coming from his sizzling skin he grabbed the bar tighter, his whole body radiating with determination.  
“A-an eggplant.” Dave grabbed his friends arm and dragged him away, his eyes showing a hint of real worry. With his other hand he petted the shaking animatronic in his pocket.  
Poor Alice didn´t deserve this, but at least she was keeping up bravely, sending the signal he told her to use.  
He needed to get them all out of here as soon as possible.  
Marionette tried to free the room towards the backdoor, feeling himself melt little by little.  
The heat and flames bit into the fragile cables his body provided and he knew he wouldn´t make it.  
He had been wrong.  
So wrong.  
Henry laughed and laughed outside and inside of his head, Henry was inside of his head and laughed, laughed, laughed.  
"MOVE MIKE! I BEG OF YOU!”  
Terrified he turned around, Mike was breaking down again and again, his leg probably broken, while Phone Guy was denying himself to move faster than his friend could. He had thrown the bar away and instead using his arms to support Mike.  
Another explosion shook the building, he could almost see a bit of the outside.  
At least it ended now.  
His machinery broke down, so close, he was so close. The other exit, the backdoor was so close to him, Jeremy, Jeremy, move!  
Jeremy, I´m sorry, I didn´t knew you would be out so long, please Jeremy, please MOVE!  
Failure.  
What a failure.  
No way out. At least there was no way out.  
End. End now. It hurts.  
There was one last chance, at least for his only friend.  
With his last bit consciousness, he touched Jeremy´s shoulder.  
R  
I  
S  
E  
Suddenly he lost touch.  
The monster.  
The monster played her music and smiled. Gracefully she bowed down.  
“I will help you.”  
She picked him up, touched him, corrupted-  
Save him.  
“My pleasure.” Jeremy was picked up under the other arm.  
The cooling air slowly took him away.  
Saved by the thing he wanted to destroy.  
At least they wouldn´t be able to get to their creator. Let this be the end.  
I beg, don´t let it all be for nothing.  
He had killed them all.  
He had freed the souls. Gave them the opportunity to go to heaven.  
End it.  
A giant explosion ripped apart the night, shaking the ground.  
Twinkle, twinkle, little star…  
Oh I wonder how you are…  
Sleep.  
No.  
They were alive. The monster was humming her tune, the monster, the monster…  
Voices.  
“I-I got s-some! L-let me bring, bring, bring them o-out!”  
“Where is father! WHERE IS FATHER!?”  
The Marionette smiled. It was done.  
Sirens in the distance.  
Fire in the back.  
The merged monster had arrived and laid down Mike and Phone Guy.  
Well, he had kinda preferred if they had burned for their fair share of sins, but it wasn´t the worst.  
The murderer were finished.  
That was all that counted. 

They were stuck inside of the main hall, machines in front, fire in the back.  
Henry tsked.  
What an inconvenience.  
But at least this gave him the opportunity to claim more of this body.  
The thoughts of his host were almost exclusively fixated on getting William out safely and apparently it was willing to work as meat shield, if it would be the only way.  
Pitiful creature, lacking any other purpose. At least it found its fountain of happiness in his partner, giving them a form of… mutual interest.  
Dragging William, who was slowly passing out due to the carbon monoxide poisoning, he managed to reach the saferoom, before his creations could make their way towards them.  
Dutiful he closed the heavy door.  
This would keep them safe.  
Not interested in continuing to inhabit the suffering body, he returned back into his more comfortable place and smiled as the orange being returned to his natural persona. Silently he used the time to find a way out. After all, it could not be healthy to a corpse to be roasted.  
Suddenly another more alarming thought came to his mind.  
Carbon monoxide was able to get rid of the connection between soul and body.  
How could he forget that?!  
WHAT AN IDIOT HE HAD BECOME!  
Old Sport clenched Dave panicked into him, curling around him as if they were in any further danger. “Dave, it will be fine, don´t worry! We will survive this, we´ll go out, we…”  
The Purple Guy held his hand. “Heh, you said it. A little smoke can only make us better, right?”  
“I wouldn´t call myself smoking hot, but it´s getting closer… I feel like a piece of meat. Probably because I am.” Suddenly he began to cry. “I don´t want to die! I DON´T WANT TO DISAPPEAR!”  
“Sportsy… we will go to hell, teach the devil a lesson for throwing me out and return afterwards!”  
“I CAN´T! I DON´T HAVE A SOUL! IF THIS BODY DIES, I´LL BE GONE FOREVER!”  
“But… we don´t die that-”  
His old partner stopped. At least he had read his notes carefully.  
Henry thought quickly. William could survive, if it was his connection and if it was not over a prolonged period of time. But his new body would be ruined.  
What an inconvenience.  
They had one shot. The animatronics had stopped moving, so they would not threat to obstruct their way.  
It was laughable easy to once more overtake the lackluster consciousness of his victim.  
“We have to get out of here, immediately, or it is our end. Move!”  
They exited the saferoom and Henry led them the beneficial route. Obedient the souls connected to the walls changed it around, always giving a small space to slip through.  
He was getting dizzy and nausea crept up into his paining body. The fire was the least of their problems.  
Incoherent screeching came from the machines as they saw them escape. They rose, losing limps in the processes, but determined to finish the job. They would not be satisfied, if only they were left to burn.  
Leaving for peace was not enough. It was a copout.  
But they were not fast enough.  
They exited the building, right as the fireman began their job.  
William´s children had hidden again, wisely. Only Circus Baby was peeking around from time to time, relieved when she saw them escaping.  
Scanning the area he searched for the culprit of their misery  
Ah, there he was!  
That brat.  
Slowly but surely his grip onto the body was slipping.  
And it was all HIS fault.  
Henry lowered himself over the puppet. “Good day to you, Charlie. How was school?”  
It screamed in horror and made a pitiful excuse of an attack. The man only needed his backhand to catapult the broken down animatronic against the next wall.  
“How unforeseeable. You have not learned one bit. Fighting me? In MY establishment? You should have known better. Your operation failed and you panicked. As the young child that you are, you acted carelessly, stupidly and only harmed the ones who loved or at least accepted you. If this would have been the end, what would you do? Rotten, poisonous, downright evil. But what you fail to realize, this could be your strength. Raise anew, my child and use your potential to the fullest. Good and evil are not categories, they are sources of energy. Remember... I never wished harm upon you, I simply worked to release your full potential. Now is the time to accept my gift.”  
Smiling he watched the black, smooth fabric turn into a liquid, dripping out of its eyes.  
His job here was done… now he only needed…  
Coughs sounded through the area, as the youngest of the Guards raised. He was not the first however, as Phone Guy somehow was sitting upright, leaned onto the wall, talking to the yet unmoving Guard of the establishment.  
Henry saw no benefit in continuing talking and decided to leave, before his host body could react in a negative way. It was obvious that the soul infused with the blood desired to return to its friend-  
Almost startled he found himself attached to his partner again in the same second as he thought that. The Orange Guy panicked looked around and sat down next to them, pressing against William tightly.  
Jeremy crawled towards the puppet, picking it up and hugging it, ignoring his own sore, paining body. “Why did you do this?”  
Nothing, except hysterical sobbing was his answer.  
“Why?”  
The machine in his arm began to ooze more black liquid. It twitched and changed, raising and falling again and again, teeth, longer than before, showed themselves in the deranged face.  
I failed! FAILEDFAILEDFAILEDFAILED!  
Noises came out of it, but they stopped making sense. It were only high-pitched, breaking tones as the thing began ripping off its mask and violently opening its chest, ripping apart cables and metal, yet somehow still not breaking down.  
Eat them, I will eat them, I will eat, eat, eat all the souls, I will be, be, be stronger, stronger than the monster, I will eat the monster-  
The barely conscious Mike watched in dazed horror, as the young kid´s soul began to grow and change, as it fused with more than just the mask, gaining claws and maybe even multiple arms, breaking out of its back.  
Mike couldn´t really see it, but he could feel the same dread he felt with Suzy. There was no way Jeremy would survive Puppet´s changing.  
But as Jeremy clutched him closer, it stopped.  
“I forgive you!”  
Even if Mike didn´t agree with that statement, he accepted it, as long as it kept the Marionette from becoming… that.  
The abomination of a soul struggled with itself, ripping into it, lightening and darkening again and again.  
HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?  
“Because I forgive you.”  
STOP!  
“You made a mistake, but you didn´t mean it.”  
PLEASE, STOP! I MEAN IT, STOP NOW OR YOU´LL REGRET IT!  
“If you give up now, you´ll never be able to redeem yourself.”  
REDEMPTION IS A LIE!  
“NO IT ISN´T! I CAN HELP YOU!”  
I TOLD YOU TO STOP!  
The Marionette ripped his claws across Jeremy´s face, blood began dripping downward.  
“KILL ME IF IT MAKES IT BETTER! BUT PROMISE ME TO NOT GIVE UP!”  
STOP, STOP, STOP!  
Another attack followed, but weaker than before, it barely pierced the skin. Loud crying was audible.  
I want to go home! I want to give up! I want to go!  
“Don´t give up! I´m still here for you! We saved the other souls! WE DID IT!”  
I´m so sorry, I´m s-so, so sorry, I wish I had never done this, I d-didn´t want ANY of this, I wanted to save them-  
“And you DID! They are free!” Jeremy snuggled the fragile spirit. “It will all be alright. I promise.”  
How can you… DO this? I wish you wouldn´t! I HATE YOU!  
“There´s no reason to be angry. I´m still here, we managed to do good and you… we can´t change the bad things anyway, what good would it do to hurt you even more?”  
WOULD YOU SAY THE SAME ABOUT MY MURDERER?  
Jeremy´s expression was hard as steel. “Yes. But, the difference is, I´m sure you won´t do it again. If I would believe that the murderer was deeply regretting his action and never do it again, I would give him the same treatment. But, murderer often are impulsive in their actions and so I would have to keep them from getting an opportunity ever again.”  
You disgust me.  
“Maybe. I don´t care.”  
I´m sorry.  
“I accepted already.”  
Silently sobbing Marion curled into himself and let Jeremy pet him.  
Mike felt Simon holding his hand, anxiously counting his pulse. If he had destroyed the fucking puppet, this would all have been fine. This was his fault.  
Dave and Old Sport were also leaning onto each other, almost asleep.  
Slowly the Guard began to feel his body again. “What… what happened?”  
“We almost died.”  
“Okay, this is worse than last year…”  
“Thankfully an animatronic with an air missile arrived and made us another exit.”  
“I don´t really believe you.”  
“Welp, I don´t give a frick.”  
“Fuck.”  
“Right, fuck.”  
“We survived.”  
“We always do…” PG´s word were uncertain, there was a soul crushing amount of worry on his mind. “They did too. In the end it was all for nothing.”  
“We aren´t down yet. Also, if you haven´t noticed, Old Sport at least appears somewhat normal again. Glowing eyes and shit. I´d say we at least didn´t fail completely.”  
“You just say that to make me feel better about blowing my only chance save SOMETHING. I should have pushed that orange ass personally into the fire.”  
Afterwards they were brought to the hospital, all except of Dave and Old Sport, who went home together with the Funtimes.  
Baby took Dave´s hand. “You scared me, father.”  
“Life is never boring with us, am I right? What were you even doing there?” Grinning already again, he grabbed Old Sport´s hand, happily swinging them back and forth, knowing that whatever it was brought his best friend back.  
“Alice send us a warning… Father, the puppet… what is wrong with it?”  
“It´s what happen to kids who chose revenge over joy.”  
“How… sad. Can´t we help him?”  
“It´s too late… I´m just as disappointed as you, Baby.”  
Old Sport kept watching the glowing sky, but his grip was strengthening. “We could be so happy.”  
Surprised his friend returned the warm pressure. “We will be. There´s nothing that can stop us.”  
“Promise me! We will be happy, together.”  
“I swear.” Smiling widely, but somehow shyly looking on the ground, Dave increased their speed towards home. “We´re closer than ever before. It´s actually good that the place burned down, because now we will be able to give our kids the spotlight they deserve. This time it will be OUR pizzeria under our rules.”  
“Phoney will be fired though.”  
“Not if I give him a great success to show off. Despite his swearing and irresponsible acting, I will give them an offer they can´t decline… and if I do that, we´ll have him in our hand. Not to mention that I REALLY owe him something…”  
“Maybe we should just run away…”  
“Do you want to?”  
“No. I want to have my home here.”  
“Then we will make our home here and if we have to force it.”  
They entered the house, everyone exhausted and ready to rest. In half an hour all lights were off and peace flooded the rooms. 

It was four o´clock when Mike woke back up. Since not much damaged was done to him, a miracle as all the doctors kept repeating, he was allowed to go home… maybe they believed he could sleep better in his own bed.  
The darkness in his room crept into his mind. There was a pair of footsteps.  
Did someone break in? Because he would KILL whoever it was. Without regret.  
“Stand up! Follow me, we don´t have much time! Hurry!”  
It was a child´s voice. But none of…  
“Did you know that people can be born with too much soul? You weren´t born with one, but you still know that feeling. Being born with too much soul usually hurts somebody. The worst case it that the soul manifest itself in more personalities. People who are born like that are very sad.”  
Mike had clothed himself and left his flat, rushing. The child at the bottom of the stairs was far too quick for a normal human, but the footsteps and voice echoed accordingly.  
“My friend explained it to me! My friend is the smartest person in the world! He wrote a book, just for me! But he´s also pretty scary…”  
Snow began falling, miniscule crystals in the air, as Mike tried to hunt the ghost.  
“I´m really bad at making friends. All life, I only managed to make two. But it doesn´t stop me from trying! I tried to make me five friends. But they never liked me back.”  
The ruins of the pizzeria were in the distance.  
“But, I still want to help them. Maybe one day, we will be friends. Oh. We can´t. How unlucky.”  
The kid stood in the middle of the ash. Around it were clean patches, where something had been moved away from. Or moved away by itself.  
“I´m sad. But that´s fine, they never liked me anyway. They will be angry. Hey, Mike, take a look at your own friend tomorrow. I know you also have a hard time making friends as well. We don´t want him to kill himself, right? Right!” The kid nodded at himself.  
“Wait, killing himself?”  
“My friend always said that if they don´t manage it once, they should never be allowed to try again.”  
“Who are you?!”  
“Ahaha, silly Mike! I´m simply a hallucination! I´m an amalgamation made out things you already know and I was created to remind you to check if they are still around! Which, well, they are.”  
“No, you are…”  
The kid turned around. White eyes, white smile.  
“Please don´t tell Henry I was here.” Despite his expression not changing, his voice sounded pleading. “I´ll get going now! Bye!”  
Mike was alone in the ruins.  
The animatronics had moved away.  
But to where?  
Children. Burnt, hurt and angry. Vengeful and terrified.  
Where could they go?  
They didn´t know where their murderer was.  
Mike tried to use his crumbled up empathy.  
I just was kicked out of my house. My mind is ten, my body is basically unstoppable.  
Where did he go, when he ran away?  
Away from humans.  
…  
He wouldn´t find them.  
Cold, the realization seeped into his being.  
As if on a magnet, he went deeper into the broken building and opened the saferoom.  
Both suits were still lying here.  
Golden Freddy watched him.  
“Why the fuck are you still fucking fine?!” Out of an instinct, Mike almost went over to kick its fucking head in, but he became too tired.  
Tomorrow is another day.  
Well, it´s already morning.  
…  
He should visit Simon. 

In a distance a silent clicking sounded, out of the darkness shined a few pairs of glowing orbs.  
The mechanical clicking grew louder and came from changing locations, as the orbs moved, illuminating darkened metal and destroyed fabric.  
The puppet had been wrong. Fire alone may was enough to split the soul from the object, but… it´s been so long.  
They had followed their leader and merged too much.  
It was the most painful experience a soul could go through, being violently torn apart.  
They needed more.  
Not much.  
Why didn´t they get their cake?  
The party never started.  
It didn´t feel like freedom. It felt like hell.  
Home.  
If they found their home, they would be able to leave.  
Maybe someone would be waiting there, with a present and hot chocolate, telling them it was all a bad dream.  
The man standing in the ruins began to leave.  
They knew his face, but their shattered thoughts couldn´t recollect anything more.  
Follow me.  
There is a secret party!  
And you are all invited.  
So they followed the man with the familiar face.  
Waiting to be lead to their party they were promised so long ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I ever mentioned I hate my story-telling? Should I rewrite this complete chapter, or can you live with this clusterfuck? Or should I rather pretend as if this is a carefully planned out cliffhanger, leading into the next “arc”?  
> I think I might shouldn´t activate so many story events at once, but I can´t help it :/ Please don´t disown me.  
> BUT HEY, WE´VE GOT THE IGNITED ANIMATRONICS THAT I LOVE SO MUCH! (Or at least I´d imagine their design this way, because they´re cool as fuck)


	21. A new restaurant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoney gets an offer he can´t really refuse, Mike gets interviewed by the detective and Old Sport did 9/11  
> Honestly, what else did you expect?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short announcement! Since I now have a Wattpad account and I don´t really have a life except writing, I thought I could make a One-shot series over there, where you guys can request stuff. If you´d like to see that, put it in the comments!

Dave watched Old Sport intensely.  
The miniscule movement of his nose and mouth while breathing.  
The way his chest rose and sunk again and again.  
The soft twitching fluttering over his face from time to time.  
Softly he stroke him over the cheek.  
Sometimes he asked himself if Old Sport maybe was an angel that was send down to fulfill a mission, but got distracted on his way.  
Snickering he pushed his finger into his friend´s cheek.  
Hopefully he would wake up soon.  
Time felt less like somethings daunting and hurting, but more like water running along, running over him.  
And all just because of that human being that was willing to stay by his side.  
Slowly he laid back down next to him, eyes closed and enjoying the warmth.  
Then he began to snuggle into him.  
Oh god, only yesterday he had feared to lose all of this.  
When his friend refused to sleep at all yesterday, he knew that he needed a miracle to fix this.  
Thank the puppet, thank the Phone Guy, thank Mike and thank Jeremy.  
Thanks for returning him. It didn´t matter what it had been what had gotten into Old Sport-  
(Henry, Henry got always what he wanted and Henry wanted to ruin this)  
\- but he was back and that was all that counted.  
Now, actually he wasn´t supposed to waste any time, since Phoney could very well do something STUPID.  
But could one really call this paradise wasting time?  
Never in a million years.  
A soft change in Old Sport´s breathing, a change he knew so well… Old Sport would wake up soon.  
But he didn´t want to back off.  
So what if Old Sport would get scared?  
In the worst case he could kidnap him.  
He even went a step further and was almost lying on top of him.  
Yawning, those orange eyelids crept open and the first thing he was doing when seeing his partner in this position was grinning.  
“For god´s sake, you´re getting creepier and creepier the longer I spend time with you.”  
“Good morning to you too, Sportsy! Now, get up, we have to visit a Phone!”  
“Phoney? But why?”  
“To prevent him from doing anything that could lead to our home being ruined. Step up! I thought you were the one who wanted to keep this version!”  
“Ooooh… I´ll hurry…” Groaning he rose from his bed, pushing Dave off in the process and was being greeted by a lot of laughter from his little girl. “Hey Alice! Back to playing with me?”  
She hugged him and snickered.  
“I missed you too…” He petted her, but sat her back down onto the ground soon enough. “Just give me five minutes, I´ll be right back!”  
And truth be told, they all were ready to go in five minutes, Dave and Old Sport standing side by side, Alice sitting on the Orange´s shoulder ready for adventure!  
After their highly normal walk to Phone Guy´s home (no fires, three people died, all the dogs in the neighborhood had now rabies), they were greeted with lot of screaming.  
“KILLING YOURSELF IS THE MOST RETARDED THING IN THE WORLD!”  
“I DIDN`T WANT TO CAUSE ANY TROUBLE!”  
“IT`S FUCKING TROUBLE TO GO INTO A HOUSE AND SEEING A PERFECTLY TIED NOOSE!”  
“I NEVER INVITED YOU OVER! DIDN´T YOU SAY HOW RUDE IT IS TO JUST WALK INTO SOMEONE´S HOUSE?”  
“RUDE? DIDN´T YOU KNOW IT`S FUCKING RUDE TO KILL YOURSELF?”  
“THAT`S MY GODDAMN DECISION! YOU CAN`T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”  
“NO IT FUCKING ISN´T! AFTER ALL WHO HAS TO LIVE WITH THE BURDEN?”  
Without hesitation Old Sport rang the bell. “PHONEY! MIKEY! KNOCK KNOCK, OPEN UP THE DOOR, IT´S ME!”  
A little embarrassed the Phone-head opened. “Did you… hear that?”  
“Yeah, but that´s not important! Dave has an offer you CAN´T refuse!”  
“I´m already considering suicide, you don´t have to do anything-”  
He was interrupted by Dave falling around him and hugging him tightly. Confused he even forgot to struggle.  
“Phoney! My man! I have something you should show to the higher-ups. I´m sure they will be… interested.”  
“Are t-those… blueprints?”  
“Indeed they are! For the most advanced machines currently existing… yes, they exist already, in case they´ll ask. Not even money is a problem, we have a VERY generous donor… it will all be financed. We even have a location for it. Only ONE condition… all of us get to stay. You´re going to run this place, under the rules of our donor. Sounds fair, doesn´t it? Tell them that and I´m sure they´ll agree.”  
“Do you think I´m a retard?”  
Surprised both colorful Guards exchanged a look. Orange Guy began to clap. “That ain´t PG anymore my friend! Since when do you use those words?”  
“Since I got sick of your shit. Here, Dave, you´re our donor, right? Afton companies is pretty profitable, isn´t it? Well, donate a fuck for me to give. This is all your fault and I´m sick of you!”  
Mike peeked around the corner, between shocked and simply impressed.  
But Phoney continued. “I´d rather die and really, this isn´t an exaggeration, I have a noose in the back, if Mike didn´t pretend to be the master of life and death, which he probably did, like the dickhead he is.”  
The mentioned Guard groaned. “Your insults are so fucking childish. Ever heard of quality over quantity? If you´re cussing every other second, pros like me will know how inexperienced you are.”  
“No one asked your opinion, you´re not the master of insults and I can fucking curse, whenever the hell I want and no cunt and no dick can tell me what to fucking do!”  
A short pause entailing intense staring ensued. It took three minutes to make the Phone Man break down. “O-okay, I´m sorry. Really. B-but, understand! This is my last freaking day! I want to curse, I want to be rude and I want to F-f-fucking hurt someone… Urgh, now it doesn´t even help to curse. I don´t want hurt people, I take it back… It´s my stress reaction. My death reaction! Not all people do stupid puns when they are afraid!”  
Desperately the man suddenly stepped back and opened the door fully. “Please, Dave, Old Sport, come in, let´s have a coffee or tea or juice or whatever and enjoy the day! It´s going to be my last!”  
“It doesn´t have to be…” Dave flung himself onto a coach and accepted the coffee that was offered. Irritated he took a look at the noose. “That´s one shitty noose.”  
Old Sport nodded. “You tied it all wrong. Looks kinda like my first attempt.”  
“Yeah, at least he got the length right, which is pretty impressive for a first timer.”  
Annoyed Phoney took off the rope and threw it out of the window. “Shut up, I don´t care.”  
“You will understand when you first experience suffocating-”  
“-It´s not pleasant.”  
Dave and Old Sport had finished each other sentences and began snickering carefree, led by Alice who was taking over the table between them, climbing onto the mugs and dancing on their edges.  
Mike refilled his cup as well, staring at everyone aggressive. “Fucking hell, am I the only one who doesn´t want to kill himself?”  
“M80, you chose to keep your job at Freddy´s, you´re most certainly suicidal.”  
Everyone sighed a little for their reasons and actually managed to calm down. Sportsy focused rather on playing with Alice, so Dave decided to return in his conversation.  
“Please, Phoney, there is nothing that could go wrong with that! You can meet the animatronics, if you want to! We´re just doing that to keep you around! Nothing would change except a new restaurant and that would be opened anyway. You know this could never be the end. The only question is… do you stay or do you die?”  
Mike interrupted. “We could fuck off and leave you!”  
“Yeah, good luck with that! You´re both on contract, they´ll do ANYTHING to catch you.”  
“I would do it anyway!”  
The Purple Guy shook his head. “I know. You´re not bad Mikey, and yeah, maybe you would do it. You and Phoney, forever on the run. Sounds romantic, would be a nice bedtime-story, but the real world looks better if you just go the path of least resistance… right Phoney?”  
Unimpressed said man was taking a sip, without answering.  
Since no one else said anything, he put the cup carefully back onto the table and looked up. “Okay. Give me the blueprints, I´ll make the deal. But you won´t be the one making the rules.”  
“Wow, Phoney! What if I say no to that?”  
“I´ll just frick off, you know?”  
“Fuck off.”  
“Who cares?! Mike, the next time you feel like deciding what I say, just call my head and I´ll let you talk, maybe then you´ll be happy!” Phone Guy frustrated took his cup back up and simply swallowed the whole liquid. “I´m… sorry.”  
“You don´t fucking have to be, I can take what I dish out.” Mike stood up and changed place, to now sit next to his friend as comfort.  
“Ah, now that I see you guys like that!” Purple Guy grabbed into his pocket and took out a…  
…  
“Dave. Why. What the fuck could I use this for.” Phone Guy was shaking his head defeated.  
“Well, it´s an electronic whip, I´m sure Mikey is into that. It´s a gift, take it or leave it!”  
Without any seeable reaction the Phone simply pocketed the item, making Mike look at him in utter irritation. Not even sounding slightly out of the norm, Simon shrugged. “I´m sure we´ll find a use for this.”  
“Nope. Fuck this shit, I´m out, you can-”  
A girl screamed loudly in front of the door. “NO, NO, FREDDY! YOU CAN`T SHOOT FROM UP HERE! THE TREES WILL CATCH FIRE!”  
They opened the door, confused, to see a distressed clown girl holding back a giant bear, while a ballerina and a fox were watching displeased.  
“That…”  
Baby turned around, smiling apologizing. “I am sorry, father… we didn´t want to cause this amount of trouble…”  
“Y-yeah! We-we-we wanted to h-help CONVINCING our-r-r friend! We want-ed to get get our restaurant!”  
Phone Guy didn´t even move an inch. “Come in, you´re the new animatronics, right?”  
“Yeah, b-boss! I´m the new Fr-freddy and y-y-your new bestbestbest friend! And of cours-s-se! BONBON! Say hello!”  
“Hello sir! I´m Bonbon! I love your nice color! Please be patient with our dear Freddy, he´s loud, but nice!” The hand puppet waved happily.  
The clown girl and the ballerina bowed to him. “I´m Ballora. It is a pleasure to meet you.”  
“I am Circus Baby, the leader of this little freak show! That fox over there is called Funtime Foxy, he… I mean she… uh… Foxy doesn´t talk, but really is friendly. Feel free to pet and cuddle!”  
Phone Guy stared at it. “I´ve seen people trying to “cuddle” Foxy and I´m NOT interested. By the way, cuddle is probably the stupidest euphemism I ever heard!”  
Displeased the Purple Guy gave him a slap onto the back of the head. “She isn´t old enough to hear about that yet!”  
“How old is she?”  
“NOT OLD ENOUGH.”  
Confused Baby looked back and forth, slightly uncomfortable. “Please, I didn´t want to stir up some kind of controversy…”  
Freddy hugged all of them in an almost bone-crushing hug. “My b-best friends! Be n-n-nice to each each each other, understood?”  
“If I´m not will you kill me?” Hopeful Phone Guy looked up to them, but they were all interrupted by Mike´s weird acting. He was slowly backing off towards the window, somewhat staring horrified at the machines. “You´re…”  
His words trailed off and he suddenly jumped around, beginning to stare out, frozen for a second. “Ah… god dammit… what…”  
The giant bear saw it as his cue to lay his arm around him, shoving his hand puppet right into the poor man´s face. Giggling as it saw the Guard´s terror, Bonbon pat his cheek.  
“What is the problem dear friend?”  
“Get the fuck out of my face you abomination! I- I just need to go home.”  
Mike shortly stopped next to PG and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Don´t kill yourself you fucking idiot, learn the balance between normal and swearwords and if you don´t feel ready to go to the factory, call me up and I´ll take over the talking. After all I´m the charming one here.”  
“Yeah, you totally not making me want to fire you whenever you open your filthy mouth.”  
“You have lost all your moral high ground at this point.”  
“Sounds like a reason to stop with all those swears.”  
“Maybe.” Before walking out, Mike looked past the chaos that the weird, monstrous animatronics out of the windows, where rain had started to pour down like mad. It was incredibly dark, a storm was approaching.  
“PG, do you have an umbrella here?”  
“Uh… yeah?”  
Groaning Mike rolled his eyes at the attitude. “And WHERE…?”  
Finally Simon stood up and took a look out of the window, frowning. He handed him over the umbrella and everyone watched him leave.  
Once more Simon looked out of the window into the sunny day.  
Shortly he considered going after Mike, but maybe he wanted the item as a weapon… wouldn´t be too unusual. Now he only needed to deal with the unwanted guests, who had begun to stare at him as if he was going to do a backflip or suddenly reveal that he actually was made out of owls that had hidden under his shirt.  
“Thank you for coming over, I will take care of the negotiation. If you don´t leave in the next five minutes, I´m going to rebuild my head into a bomb and run into your house and shove the head down your throats, before blowing up.”  
“Phoney… you SCARE me!” Innocently Old Sport grabbed Dave´s arm and tugged him out, unclear if he meant it serious or not.  
Shortly before they left, Phone Guy stopped the Orange Guy. “Good to have you back. Honestly, I prefer you when you at least PRETEND to have a soul.”  
“Ouch…” Now really frowning, the Orange paused. “Thanks, I guess, but those comments are really mean, you know?”  
“Well, they aren´t wrong, are they? And what do YOU want?” The man snapped at Dave, whose eyes had slimmed in a dangerous fashion. “You guys got what you want, now I need a break to be at peak performance. That IS what you want after all.”  
“Let´s leave, sportsy… we could do something fun!”  
“I know!” Sparkling while going down, Old Sport was beginning to give suggestions. “We could dress all the street signs in lingerie!”  
Freddy was ready to keep up. “N-no! We should highjack-highjack-highjack a news station! We have t-t-to advertise our FUN FUNFUN new place!”  
“For that we would first need to build the place, dear Freddy…” Baby shook her head, displeased.  
Purple Guy smiled fondly at his little family. “We have A LOT to do today! How about we try to order them after-”  
Sighing Phone Guy closed his front door and asked himself what he was supposed to do now. Probably first send an email, before the firing squad came knocking.  
Hopefully his friend wasn´t getting himself in trouble.  
A wish that was… subjectively coming somewhat true? If you were lenient.  
Not even one minute walking on the street and suddenly out of nothing, the strange cop who had been there on the day they freed Gary had stepped in front of him.  
Friendly smiling, he offered his hand. “Mike Schmidt, if I´m correct?”  
“Who wants to fucking know that?”  
“Ah, excuse me, I am Ethan Cross, we have shortly met at Freddy´s. We haven´t gotten the time to talk yet…”  
“Because why would I ever talk to someone like you?”  
“Let´s say I have a few questions… about the DNA inside the robots and the company in general.”  
“Fuck off, I´m busy.”  
His eyes and tone steeled. “Mr. Schmidt, you have three options at the moment. We could go to the police station or we could make your home feel VERY uncomfortable for the next while. But, especially since it´s a simple chat and I would mind bothering you too much, we could also sit down in a café for a while.”  
Those words were a slightly veiled threat. The easy way or the hard way, you decide.  
Mike felt between annoyed and worried, but didn´t feel like making a scene. “Alright, but you pay for a coffee for me.”  
“Of course.” Returning to his softer expression, he took the lead and brought him towards the nearest small place, apparently already familiar with the employees, as they greeted him friendly.  
They sat down in a cozy corner, not even needing to order to get their coffee.  
“Did you… did you fucking prepare this?”  
“It is always good to be prepared.” Seeing that Mike wasn´t pleased with that answer he continued. “Let´s simply say that I thought it was pretty unlikely for you to deny my simple request for a talk.”  
“Fuck yourself.”  
The detective paused and looked outside, taking a sip from his coffee.  
Outside were strangers passing by, each of them different in a way. Ethan finally answered, with the most unrelated thing possible.  
“Did you ever hear of the Milgram experiment?”  
“No and I have no interest to hear about it.”  
“Why, that is a harmful way of thinking. When I first attempted to interview the previous owner of Fredbear´s Family diner, he solved the tension nicely by talking about it. It is, to put it simple, an experiment on people’s obedience. An authority figure ordered them to shock a person in the next room, whenever said person answered a question wrong, to grossly oversimplify. At first it were simple, soft shocks that they pretended to stimulate the brain. But slowly the voltage began to creep higher and the person in the next room began screaming. How many people do you think stopped at that point with the experiment, not following the orders of the authority anymore?”  
“Every-fucking-one?”  
“When the so called “teacher” wanted to stop the experiment, the authority said these verbal prods. Please continue - The experiment requires that you continue - It is absolutely essential that you continue - You have no other choice, you must go on. Nothing more, nothing less.”  
“Well then, probably nobody went for it, right?”  
“Well, 65 percent administered the experiments final voltage of 450 Volt. All of them went to the 300 Volt mark.”  
“What the holy fuck?”  
“And recent studies showed that it hasn´t really changed today.”  
Somewhat shocked Mike followed Ethan´s eyes and stared at the people walking outside. He wasn´t really sure what to say to that statistic.  
“Isn´t it weird? Every day we pass so many faces- not asking about what the person will become. Maybe you just passed by a guy who will be hit by a car later this evening and die shortly after in hospital. Maybe you just nodded at a woman, who will abuse her children in two years. That one person you were in school with, the one you never really paid attention to hanged himself. Your neighbor could soon appear in the newspaper, having killed a family of three.”  
“What´s your fucking point?”  
“My point is… nothing, actually. I assumed you weren´t one for small talk and thought this might interest you more. The banality of evil. I´m a police man, I should know how “evil” appears, right? No, of course not. Evil isn´t really a force, but rather something that slowly builds out of ignorance, convenience and fear. That´s what I learned as my time as part of the police.”  
He took another sip, now his almost grey eyes were fixated on the Guard. “Not even the Nazis were made up out of bad people. Terrifying, isn´t it? Or maybe hopeful? Even though you have to be VERY optimistic to see hope in that.”  
“Oh, I know a guy who would use this as excuse to believe in people.”  
“Hm… would you count him lucky? Never mind, let´s return to the subject at hand: That evil is not what people think it is. No human acts evil, with the intention of acting evil. Most of them don´t even know what they are doing.”  
“I have my doubts about that…”  
“Yes. Exactly. When I started this case, I believed my first statement, but then I met it. Or it found me? Whatever is going on at Freddy´s… It´s evil. It is real evil, for the sake of being evil. In full knowledge of what it is doing. It does it, because it enjoys it. You know about it, don´t you? First the investigation due to an anonymous tip, then, before we could even attempt to confiscate anything, an attack onto the competitor’s chain, a violent, excessive one and just a few days later, a fire inside of Freddy´s itself. You know something. You´re not the kind of guy to ignore weird details. Tell me… what do you know?”  
“I-” Mike wanted to make some kind of excuse, but then he realized that it was pretty stupid to lie here. This was the right moment to tell what Dave did. This was the right moment to finish this lawful. “Dave... Miller or Vincent or whatever. The Purple Guy. He´s a psychopath, killed kids and tried to electroshock me as well.”  
Red.  
Very red.  
Very, very red.  
Mike´s thoughts suddenly jumbled again, he couldn´t concentrate.  
“Do you think this is a joke?” Ethan appeared grim.  
“What?! What about this is a joke?”  
“Repeat yourself please.”  
“The purple employee is a serial killer! He tried to end my life! I have fucking scars to prove it!”  
Red. Red. Red.  
Confused Ethan frowned, but his expression softened. “This… is what you said?”  
“Are you fucking kidding me?! YES, you daft asshole!”  
“Say it one more time, word for word.”  
“The. Purple. Guy. Is. The. Killer.”  
Red.  
Why did he think about that damn color as much?  
The detective flipped back a few pages of his notebook and tapped onto the table. “Something is seriously wrong at Freddy´s, wouldn´t you agree?”  
“YES. Freddy´s is hell.”  
“Hm. Alright then. It appears as if you couldn´t tell me anything.”  
“WHAT? I LITERALLY REVEALED THE KILLER!”  
“You didn´t. You said something different each time. But don´t worry, that is common with some of you employees. Weirdly common.” He wrote something down.  
Mike´s phone started ringing. Annoyed he checked up and it said that he got a text, even though it was the tone for a call.  
Confused he stared at the display.  
Five hundred new messages from “=)”  
Now completely weirded out, he opened the first text.  
Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.  
Fazbear entertainment is not responsible for death or dismemberment.  
That… was Simon´s first call, at least until the last sentence. He deleted the message and a new message popped up.  
Apprehensive he opened the second text.  
Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.  
Fazbear entertainment is not responsible for death or dismemberment.  
Another one.  
Welcome to Freddy Fazbear´s Pizza.  
Another one.  
Not responsible for death or dismemberment.  
Another one.  
Not responsible.  
Panicking he put it back, standing up and turning away. “I don´t feel good. I hope I could help or you at least got what you needed.”  
“Not at all, but I´m sure we will talk again, Mr. Schmidt.”  
While running home, the phone kept ringing.  
Welcome to Freddy Fazbear´s Pizza.  
Keep going, this isn´t too bad.  
You are not responsible for death and dismemberment.  
His mind felt as if it was splitting apart, as the rain poured down onto him, his only protection in form of the umbrella being toyed with by the stormy wind.  
Quickly he entered his place and sighed relieved, until his eyes fell onto the window.  
What a sunny day.  
He was completely dry.  
Slowly he stepped towards the bed, falling into it and staring at the ceiling. How much was real right now?  
Where was he?  
Carefully he reached for the new pills.  
They won´t help.  
Yes, I know.  
Then why take it?  
“Because I´m talking to myself at this fucking point.”  
How would you know that?  
“GUESS I have to take the pills to find out! Or are you a GHOST?”  
Nothing answered him, which was probably a good sign or something. Quickly he swallowed one and closed his eyes, praying to fall asleep.  
In quite a distance, someone else felt like falling asleep as well.  
Old Sport watched Dave sleepy, as the man was making a lot of different phone calls to different companies.  
"Big plans, huh?”  
“Well, it´s not going to be Circus Baby´s Pizzeria, it HAS to be Circus Baby´s Pizza World!”  
“The difference is…?”  
“What would you call a “world”, Sportsy?”  
Perking up in excitement the Orange Guy answered. “An amusement park.”  
“YES.”  
Baby was equally as surprised and shyly began to play around with her skirt. “A-ah whole amusement park for us? I-isn´t that a bit much?”  
“Nothing is too much for my lovely daughter and her friends! And of course my dear Old Sport!”  
Excited said guy jumped up, dancing around. “A whole amusement park?!”  
“Yes, with EVERYTHING! Arcades and pizza for you, a funhouse for Freddy, a jungle for Foxy and a palace made out of candy for Ballora! A pool, adventure rides and all kind of things! It´s going to be GIANT. We will change architects every three weeks, so we can build in some secrets of our own as well~”  
“WHOOO! But how long will it take?!”  
“If I hire about fifty different companies, probably more than two months.”  
“What?! NOOOOoooOOOO!”  
“BUT DON`T WORRY! FOR I HAVE A TIME MACHINE!”  
“WHAT?!”  
“YES!”  
“And it works?!”  
“YES!”  
“WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?”  
“NOTHING! LET´S GO!”  
Dave pulled out a small glowing ball and made a sign for Old Sport to follow, who didn´t need that invitation. Down in the workshop they entered a small, round machine, filled to the brim with lights and buttons.  
While Purple Guy was putting in the glowing orb, Old Sport began pushing all buttons he could find.  
Dave rolled his eyes. “It won´t react to that, there´s a highly complicated process behind finding a possible landing place, which includes knowing time and space of the desired-”  
“COORDINATES ACCEPTED. INITIATING TRAVEL.”  
“Old Sport, did you just-?!”  
All of sudden lights and sound became overwhelming and the machine began shaking, yet thankfully it stopped as soon as it started.  
“What… happened?” Old Sport sheepishly yelped, having fallen over into a weird position.  
“You catapulted us into the next century…”  
“WOAH! AWESOME!”  
“We only needed to travel fifteen years for that, so don´t freak out. The power source has to reload though… and once it has finish it will take us back automatically. You haven´t deactivated the automatic return feature…” They exited the capsule and looked around. It was a little fuller, there was a little more advertisement and cars, but otherwise it wasn´t too out of the ordinary.  
Disappointed Old Sport crossed his arms. “So there´s basically nothing interesting coming from this?”  
“Well, while we´re he we could do something pretty illegal! After all, the police can´t catch us for something we´re GOING to do, right? Any wish?”  
“Right, we´re in the future… hm… let´s see…”  
They walked a few steps and ended up in front of a giant building, that had in giant letters AIRPORT written on it.  
Dave´s eyes slimmed and he grinned. “We have twenty minutes…”  
“YES!”  
Together they entered and while looking for an entrance to the planes, someone was running up to them.  
“Entschuldigung, haben sie eine junge Dame mit dunklen Haaren, einer schwarzen Brille und blauen Rucksack gesehen?“  
Dave frowned confused, not understanding anything really, but Old Sport apparently knew exactly what to say.  
“Nein, verpissen Sie sich oder ich breche ihnen alle Knochen im Namen von Amerika.“  
The man stepped back, shocked and simply left them. Impressed Dave looked at his partner. “You can speak German?”  
“Well, you know, a bit… this ain´t my first time travel, you know? Usually I end up in Germany though… and in the past. The first time there was that poor man who had a fucking sweet beard and kept trying to ask me something, but since I didn´t understand anything I simply clapped my hands. So five minutes later I end up in some other place, phasing in and out of reality, while finally being given a gun. There were all those people signing at that one dude in some kind of carriage and I think to myself, eh, whatever, they probably want me to shoot that guy. Thought and done, I´m suddenly end up home again. Weeks later I see a picture in one of those magazines that lay around at doctors and dentist and stuff… think to myself, uh, that guy looks familiar! Turns out I shot the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and basically am at fault for the First World War.”  
They strolled towards the next exit, hoping to find a way to enter the planes, while Orange Guy continued.  
“Thinking to myself, holy fuck, I might should learn a bit of German, so that won´t happen again! Said and done and surprisingly I find another one of those portals! I jump through it, having nothing better to do anyway, I end up in Germany AGAIN! This time, I tell myself that I won´t do anything and just make fun of those around me without needing to fear to be beaten up again. Sitting in a bar, looking for a fight, I sit down next to that one depressed guy, asking him what´s wrong. Turns out he is too fucking shitty at drawing, he wasn´t accepted into art school. Pretty depressing in itself, but I felt especially badass and told him all the memes. That it was probably all fault of the Jews and that we should gas them and shit. That dude isn´t even too salty, goes along with it and talks about problems in politics and that the politicians aren´t doing anything. I try to be funny, tell him that they most likely are Jews or controlled by Jews as well and that you could tell if someone is a Jew by their nose and stuff. He stays silent for a while, thanks me and leaves. Took me forever to find out that I… well, let´s not talk about it. Pretty obvious what I did. Lesson learned: Never make Nazi jokes, until after the Nazi´s have been defeated.”  
“Old Sport, your kill count is probably so much higher than mine… fucking hell…”  
“Yeah, yeah, don´t rub it in, I tried to be edgy… It´s really bad when I remember the edgy side of my life. But even in my edgiest phase, I did NAZI that coming!”  
Finally they found a plane that was promising. Quickly they sneaked past the guards broken into the plane, until the plane was already in the air, making it safe to come out.  
Coincidently they found some other guys hiding in the back with some weapons. They took the weapons and threw them out, watching them fly like majestic, over-weight eagles.  
Ah, America, the land of the free.  
“Who gets to fly?”  
“How about we take turns? Only ten minutes left anyway, so five you, five me?”  
“The other one takes care of the people in the plane.”  
Old Sport sprinted through the different sections, broke down the door to the pilot´s cabin with a nice kick and screamed on top of his lungs.  
“THIS IS AN ATTACK IN THE NAME OF MOE! GIVE ME YOUR PANTIES OR I`LL TAKE THEM BY FORCE!”  
“What the hell?!”  
“Please get out of here-”  
With another perfect kick he broke both of their necks. “Nonbeliever will be erased! By the power of my sexy, biological walking pillars!”  
Satisfied he checked all the beeping and booping going on.  
Autopilot? FUCK THAT!  
Violently he yanked the controls around and yes, the plane reacted accordingly, getting ready to crush into the ground.  
“OLD SPORT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I CAN`T AIM LIKE THIS!”  
“SORRY!”  
Now making the plane shake even more violently by keep altering between left and right, it took only twenty seconds for Dave to be next to him taking control away and flying a full on loop.  
“To all guest who have taken off their seatbelts, I´m sorry, but we´re going to die anyway!” They screamed through the hall in their back.  
“Draw a dick onto the sky! Or even better, draw a lamp!”  
“Why a lamp…?”  
“EXACTLY! They´re going to be so confused!”  
Beginning to discuss what kind of drawing would cause the most suicides and accidents out of confusing and distractions, they noticed they were heading towards a city with giant towers.  
“What´s in those?”  
“Probably some insurance company or something… looks like an oversized bureau to me. Why you´re asking?”  
“If I hate one thing then it´s life insurance. It´s like a sign for your relatives to kill you! HERE`S SOME FREE MONEY AND SHIT! As well as they not even letting me collect mine after I died! I mean, holy hell, what did I pay them for?”  
“Yeah, was the same with me. Let´s go and say hi!”  
“I wonder how many of them have a life insurance of their own! I sure hope most of them!”  
Grinning grimly, they focused on towards the building, but were interrupted as another plane was quicker than them.  
“Uh… why did another plane crash do what we were going to do?”  
Dave only shrugged equally as confused. “I guess it has to do with the Lizardmen we saw earlier. Maybe they also don´t like insurance companies.”  
“What Lizardmen?”  
“Didn´t you see them? Those guards were talking to them, fooled by their ridiculous skin masks!”  
“… Dave, do you have a fever?”  
“Never mind, we´re still crashing, or nah?”  
“Nah, now it isn´t cool anymore. Let´s just fly upwards until the plane explodes or something…”  
But as he tried to grab onto the controls again, he couldn´t touch them. With a confused glance towards Dave, he assumed that their time had simply run out.  
More or less correct, Purple Guy pulled out the power orb and checked on its bright glowing. “Alright… this might get a little… problematic…”  
“Why?”  
“It needs more energy than it could regenerate while being here. No worries though, it probably won´t cannibalize us. I think. It might suck matter away from the building…”  
“Why does that… MATTER?”  
Not even reacting to the lazy wordplay, Dave went straight to answering the question. “It will be odd for the people around us, when the building suddenly starts melting into itself, or something similar. Won´t be forgotten that easily, if you know what I mean.”  
Rapidly coming closer to crashing into the windows and walls, Old Sport was almost thankful for the tingling sensation on his whole body that reminded him of his previous escapades.  
And while everything around them was being engulfed in bright flames, they felt reality being forcibly mashed together as time and space connected in one point.  
Back at home they were all ruffled up and smelled like oil, but were feeling somewhat accomplished.  
“Wew lad, that was quite the adventure! I´ve always wanted to crush a plane!”  
“I´d say it was alright… what about the skip towards the grand opening of our theme-park?”  
“First this little object has to reload, I don´t want to destroy it by accident and secondly, we might want to take our friends with us, right? I have a pretty good idea that would ensure we could keep them around, while not letting them notice that we are time traveling!”  
“Really? What?”  
“So first of, we force them to all come here! We kidnap Phoney, so Mikey has to come and Jeremy sure is down to come without any extra motivation, IF he´s already out of the hospital at that point. Once we have them here, we´ll time travel at night, not with the capsule, but rather with a local- to put it simple, we don´t speed up the world around us, but rather slow down the time inside this house. We could go forward one month and they probably wouldn´t notice. After that I´ll take care of changing our architects and Construction Company, so we could build in some more secrets. Forcing the other Guards to spend a night there won´t be too hard either, since Freddy´s is known for its nonsense. Again, we bring them into an already finished part of the building, slow down our time locally, via gravity and boom, we´re in an almost finished theme-park with no one questioning how it was built so quickly!”  
Old Sport, all the efficient man had only noticed one information. “YOU MEAN WE HAVE A SLEEPOVER WITH ALL THE OTHERS?!”  
“YES!”  
“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!”  
Funtime Freddy peeked in, attracted by the happy noises. “What-what is so so funny? I w-wanna laugh too!”  
“WE`RE GOING TO HAVE A SLEEPOVER!” Old Sport hugged the bear happily.  
“Hurray-y-y-y! Who´s gonna c-come to it?” Hugging him back, his blue eyes seemed to shine even brighter.  
“Our friends that you have met this morning!” Dave put his hands to his hips, satisfied with the excitement he had stirred up.  
“I´ll make-e suresuresure they´re going to ha-ve a good time!”  
Baby now joined. “I´ve heard someone say “sleepover”? Is there a celebration going to happen?”  
“Oh yes, we wanted to waste some time before your amusement park gets officially opened!”  
“Don´t call it my amusement park… it´s our amusement park, if anything…” Baby´s cheeks were glowing, a nice design choice in Orange Guy´s opinion. He snickered and nudged Dave.  
“Communism has even gotten to your daughter now!”  
“Our daughter!” Automatically Dave answered, having played out this scenario so often in his head that he simply blurted it out after hearing “your daughter”. Immediately his cheeks reddened as well and even if it was organic on his side, he and Baby gave a very similar picture.  
Old Sport on the other hand was laughing and put his hand over his heart, while faking a bad Russian accent. “Mother Russia has finally conquered the American resistance!”  
Sighing the Purple Guy shook his head to hide how weird he was feeling. “I´m going to make the necessary calls now, I´ll be back as soon as possible.”  
With that he left them chatting in the workshop, getting ready to pester Phoney enough to visit him.  
Once more he took out the energy sphere and stared at it blankly.  
He didn´t really liked using it, but it would be a waste to refuse it.  
Slowly he placed it back into a small box inside of his pockets.  
Henry was one scary motherfucker.  
Everything was rated after usefulness and nothing else.  
Except him of course.  
He took pride in the fact that he was Henry´s one and only friend. People came from far and wide to discuss and learn with Henry, but no matter how intelligent or influential that person was, as soon as they stopped being useful or entertaining, he would drop them like an empty can of soda.  
Yet, somehow the people kept coming back, kept helping and kept learning. From simple peers on their field, to news stations and investors, they all were impressed by Henry.  
Whenever it came to himself though… people nodded respectful, when they knew he was Henry´s friend, but some simply frowned in confusion or huffed in disagreement.  
No one knew why Henry was spending so much of his time with this mentally unstable freak.  
They couldn´t imagine a friendship based on loyalty and similar minds.  
William had never cared about attention or credit and never wanted to make money off the inventions and discoveries they made. He had never been jealous, despite being seen as a deadweight by anyone who knew them.  
The elevator had stopped, but he couldn´t bring himself to step out.  
Henry had been his only friend and while he sometimes teased and made fun of him, he would always be on his side when it came to problems.  
When William had killed a female guest inside of the home they shared and hid the corpse in one of their closets, Henry was furious and talked to him about all the evidence that would leave behind.  
But he helped cleaning the mess and didn´t even consider for a second to throw him out.  
Wherever they went, Henry made sure to be treated as his equal, even if it was hard in public.  
In trance Dave finally left the elevator and leaned onto a wall.  
Until he met Old Sport, he had cursed his own immortality and tried again and again to get rid of himself. Finding out that it was impossible, he began to destroy the chain they´ve build up, as if to reverse time itself with it.  
Silently he winced as he thought back of Old Sport´s weird behavior.  
If he could get Henry back by sacrificing Old Sport, would he do it?  
William or Dave?  
He wasn´t denying who he once was. He simply had change a little.  
He knew he had to show Old Sport the book soon.  
Again he took out the small ball made out of pure energy.  
Energy won by completely draining a soul.  
Everything that happens is fate and is fair and right. You have to work to change your own fate, as you otherwise deserve it.  
That was something Henry often repeated when he heard someone complain or was asked how he felt about his accomplishments.  
Henry deserved to be dead.  
Frozen Dave listened to the echo of that traitorous thought.  
Well, technically he was right, wasn´t he? He and Henry gambled quite often against each other, looking who Lady Fortuna was favoring more. It used to be the pink-skinned man, who smiled at Dave´s ever growing frustration.  
All fate is earned by your own actions.  
If Henry died and gambled his chance away, then he earned this fate by his own words.  
Then he shouldn´t come back and ruin what Dave had built for himself.  
Dave was a lot better name.  
It came with Old Sport´s smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I´m so sorry for being so validation needy. I´m sorry for everything in general, all I want is to make you smile. Please, I hope with all my heart that you enjoyed this.  
> Again, I say: If you want to request one-shot from me, tell me and I´ll publish a story on Wattpad, where my username is Lucarioishere. I really want to do that as a thank you, but if you aren´t interested, it´s understandable as well.  
> Next chapter is a MEGACHAPTER (~10.000) for Valentine´s day. Thank you for taking the time and reading this :3


	22. Valentine and lots of love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There´s a reason everyone is single... for example:  
> Psychosis, general insanity, being unable to express oneself, not understanding the feeling you feel and of course cockblocking Animatronics.  
> Thank god they don´t have to worry about the last one for now, right?.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of love to you lovely reader! Spend a happy day with things that you adore! *D*  
> And like always, I´m far too edgy to make all this overly sweet… but I think it ended up nice anyway x3
> 
> Oh, before we go, special greeting to Dragonblade´s sister! Just for you I break the scedule ;3

It had been a long time for Jeremy and the Puppet.  
After the fire incident, the animatronic had become silent and shut down most conversations Jeremy tried to make with him. Contrasting that, Marion had refused to leave his side ever since, always needing skin contact.  
Inside of the hospital, that was quite the problem, as staff wouldn´t allow something as potentially dangerous as an animatronic inside a patient´s room. Marion had coped with it by hiding under his bed, clutching a plushie or piece of clothing belonging to Jeremy, while they were visited by the doctor.  
Now that he finally was healthy enough to be on his own, it became… well, HE wouldn´t call it worse, but more worrying to be entirely honest.  
The human had to even let the bathroom door open while showering, so Marion knew he could always get inside if something bad happened.  
Jeremy really didn´t mind. He was connected to the Marionette in a way he never felt for another person before.  
For the first time in his young life he experienced responsibility for someone other than himself and a slightly twisted sense of reward for seeing Marion sticking so close to him.  
Considering that the new establishment would soon be open and running, he thought about asking the Marionette if he wanted to take over a function of his choice inside of the new place. There surely was something even Marion would like to do and keeping him busy would probably be the most effective way to getting him back.  
Affectionate he petted the creature awake. “Hey, Marion…? It´s time to go to the new establishment! Dave said it would be ready for a first tour and we should get used to its size…”  
The eyes of his companion lit up, but there wasn´t much more of a reaction.  
“I´ll just take you along then! You´ll see, it will be great fun once we are there!”  
Staring continuously, he rested his head back onto him, between dozing and observing.  
Jeremy walked past the calendar while getting his prepared backpack.  
Fourteenth of February, valentine´s day.  
It was circled in a thick green marker, as Jeremy had been looking forward to this day since New Year´s Eve.  
Yesterday he made some chocolate, together with Marion, for each Guard a different kind and shape!  
Also, he made notes that were telling the receiver why they were such awesome person and what they soon should do together (mostly different kinds of anime and video games were proposed) and how much it had helped him grow to get to know them.  
Only for one he didn´t knew what to do.  
Once more he glanced at Marion, who had deactivated his eyes again.  
Marion wouldn´t like chocolate and he wasn´t too keen on keeping notes, if not even owning things in general.  
There was one thing he might could do for him, considering his crafting abilities.  
But he wasn´t a mechanic and would probably do more harm than good… and it was questionable if the Marionette was even interested in displaying more emotions.  
A new mask wouldn´t be anything Marion would be happy about…  
…  
There was something he might could give Marion.  
Something very special to him.  
He reached for the necklace he was wearing under his shirt. A necklace was generally considered girly, but his father had never said anything against it, since it was a present of his highly respected grandmother.  
An heirloom.  
A simple, flat, golden angel silhouette, which he was told brought peace and protection to whoever was wearing it.  
Right now he couldn´t think of anyone more in need of peace than his friend.  
Trying to get back into a more positive mindset, he smiled as he walked to work. Marion would accept it, be happy, return to normal and everyone would be happy about the chocolate and getting along and everyone would be better friends after today!  
As he arrived he was baffled. A giant main hall, filled with tables, a really impressive stage that could easily be seen from everywhere in the hall, except from the second floor, where a lot of different arcades were located.  
On the other hand, if you tried hard enough, you could even see it from there, since you could look down from the railing.  
“WOW! THIS IS AMAZING!” Jeremy run into the middle of the place, twirling around. “How is this even possible?!”  
Dave came over proudly snickering. “You haven´t even seen Freddy´s Funhouse, Foxy´s Forest or Ballora´s Ballroom! There´s nothing I haven´t done to turn this into a magnet for entertainment-hungry families! It won´t even be too pricey… after all we want the kids to come over whenever they feel bad!”  
“YOU`RE SO GREAT DAVE!” He fell around him and squeezed him as closely as possible. “Here, I have something for you!”  
Shortly taking off his backpack, he got out the gear-shaped chocolate, together with the sweet little note, making Dave´s eyes widen in surprise.  
He accepted chocolate and note, but didn´t really answer at first. Once he got his shit together, he put the stuff away and tried to awkwardly get something out. “J-Jeremy… did you ever… like someone?”  
“I like a lot of people!”  
“You but… did you ever try to… make someone fall in love with you?”  
“Uh… no… sorry?”  
“If you were ever were planning on doing that, what would you… I mean, how would you try to do it?”  
“I think love is just something that happens when the chemistry is right between you and someone else… if the person is the right one for you, it´ll just happen!”  
“That´s highly doubtful. Thanks anyway, Jeremy…”  
Dave was walking in circles, nervously biting into his lip from time to time. What do you do when you want to make someone like you? How do you do that? He never managed to make someone like him in any way shape or form before!  
Phoney stepped in and paused, obviously just as stunned as Jeremy before.  
The Purple Guy had already gotten sick of what he saw. The only reason this place was more like an unholy crossover of casino and amusement park, was because it would make it a cakewalk to get rid of humans here, especially in a fun and creative way.  
Quickly he attacked his boss, whining like a hurt doggo. “PHONEY! I NEED HELP!”  
“W-what?! Why?! This isn´t going to be another kidnapping, right? That would be the third…”  
“How do you woo someone?!”  
“Woo? What?”  
“I want to win Old Sport´s heart! But I don´t know how to do that! HELP ME!”  
“Wait, wait, slow down… okay. You want to… uh… date him?”  
“Yes! I want him to do that thing where you go through good and bad until death do us part! You know that legal contract to keep someone!” Confused out of shock, he tried to find the word. “Marriage and stuff!”  
“Slow down! You´re a bit extreme! Is Old Sport even interested in you?”  
“I… I mean, maybe, I don´t really know! Sometimes he appears like he is, but then it´s as if he tries to avoid the topic or turn it into a joke… Should I kidnap him?”  
Phone Guy sat down, shaking his head. “Honestly, it would probably work with you two… but it isn´t really the… gentleman way.”  
“Gentleman… you think Old Sport likes gentleman?!”  
“No, not really… Shouldn´t you know it better than anyone else?”  
“Hey, my favorite fucks, what are you doing?!” Mike was strolling in, looking somewhat… unstable. Before Simon could ask him though, Dave had already answered.  
“Phoney is going to tell me how to date someone!”  
“You? Date?”  
“Today is the right day to show my feelings for Sportsy!”  
“So, you actually wanna bang the Orange?” Mike tried his best not to let a short noise of disgust slip.  
Shocked, no, completely terrified Dave looked at Mike. “NO! What are you thinking?! I LIKE him! I would NEVER shoot him!”  
Confused the Guard frowned, not expecting that reaction. “You… but you know what banging means, right?”  
“I´m not an idiot, Mikey…”  
“Just to be sure we´re on the same page, define banging.”  
“Well, you either shoot someone while in a car, or simply run them over. You know, BANG!”  
Even though it had its own logic, Mike decided not to reply, leaving Purple Guy to continue talking. “I and Sportsy banged A LOT of hookers while in Vegas, it was fucking great!”  
“Urgh, if you ever want to date someone, you have A LOT to learn…”  
That was the wrong answer as Purple Guy began to whine again in his annoying high-pitched tune. “We have one day to turn me into a date master! I even once tried to be in a dating sim and I didn´t even do half bad, I almost wooed Phoney-”  
“Excuse me, I would have noticed that.” Phone Guy raised an eyebrow, obviously sceptic of his words.  
“Ah, shut your receiver, you would date me.”  
“… You know what? Yes.” Mike stepped back, afraid to catch whatever disease had gotten ahold of Phone Guy, but he had already continued. “It would make it so much easier to poison you or snap your neck at night.”  
Shortly they looked at each other and high-fived, while Dave was groaning. “That isn´t even the topic! How do I make him accept me?”  
“This might be a bit straight-forward, but how about roses? Those are pretty clear…”  
“YES! I´LL COVER THE WHOLE BED IN ROSES!”  
Mike ruined the fun instantly. “You want to cover his whole bed in thorns? And what about the annoying petals that would get everywhere? Not to mention that it would rot in about three days…”  
“Did someone ever do that for you?” Surprised, no, genuinely shocked Simon turned around.  
“No, I have some fucking common sense! Jesus, is having a brain a crime now?”  
“N-no, I was just…” Now Simon was stumbling over his own words, being remarkably similar to Dave next to him.  
It was a weird day, all in all and it had been only about five minutes.  
Thankfully Jeremy came over to ease the tension a little with his smile. He held out chocolate for Mike who stepped back as if it was poisonous. “No thanks.”  
“What? Why? I made it especially for you!”  
“I don´t-”  
“Don´t try to fool me, you took my cookies before! I made it last night with a lot of love, so please accept it.”  
“Isn´t it kind of weird to give people chocolate on valentine’s day?”  
“Why?”  
“Urgh, never mind. Thanks I guess.” Grumpy he pocketed the skull-shaped chocolate, together with the note, without even taking a second look at it, making Jeremy pout. Huffing insulted, he turned towards the somewhat frozen Phone Guy and gave him also some Freddy-shaped chocolate.  
Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw the Orange Guy signing him to come over.  
Probably to do something stupid… but at this point he really wanted to get away from this situation and this was a good excuse.  
Hearing Dave continuing with his weird plans only make him walk faster.  
“Really, how about I… I could provoke a group of violent criminals to attack Old Sport and then heroically save him!”  
“Orange Guy would probably find that out and be pissed off…” Phone Guy couldn´t explain why he was trying to help Dave, but probably to distract himself from his own… thoughts…  
Nervously he glance after Mike, unsure if he should spend his time today with him. Would that be too weird?  
Would it be weirder if he avoided him today?  
Slowly panic seeped into his mind and helpless he tried to return his focus onto Dave, who was messing up his own hair.  
“I guess… but now I have to think about something that would work! Should I send him some top-of-the-class-dank-meme? He would like that, he LOVES my memes!”  
“Are you sure about that…?”  
“But memes aren´t really what you would call romantic… are they? Are memes romantic, Phoney?”  
“No. But between you and me, it´s probably more romantic than anything you´re even capable of thinking of in your fucked up head.”  
“My… fucked up… PHONEY! YOU`RE RIGHT! OLD SPORT AIN´T NO REGULAR GUY! WE`RE BOTH TOTALLY FUCKED! SO THAT`S WHY WE NEED SOME SPECIAL FORM OF ROMANCE! Yes! Thanks, but you won´t be able to help me anymore! Now I just need some inspiration…”  
“Wait, no, hold on for a minute! You know, just because you´re a total psychopath and he´s soulless, doesn´t mean he is accepting of everything you do!”  
“What do YOU know? Did YOU ever date someone? I think NOT! And even if, Sportsy is SPECIAL in every sense of the way!”  
“Special needs I guess, but really there´s nothing standing out about him. He acts like someone who´s just as literally no common sense, not like someone who´s complete alien to human emotions. Except empathy and compassion….”  
“I´m gonna give him a lot of hearts! Now I´ll just have to find some humans to harvest them from!”  
“NO! BAD PSYCHO! BAD! We don´t kill people in this restaurant!”  
“Since when?”  
“Since it´s MY restaurant!”  
“Huh… ahahaha, that´s funny! If that´s our policy, it would explain why Mike just stays alive like that one relative no one likes! Damn, those outlive the next generation and a half…”  
“What are you talking about you son of an eggplant?! Could you focus for FIVE minutes?”  
“How could I? I´m so panicked, Phoney! When Old Sport comes in a few hours, I´ll have to be confident and have a good plan!”  
“He isn´t here?”  
“No, he stayed back with Alice and Baby…”  
“Alice?”  
“The small ballerina.”  
“Ah… right, in that case…” Desperate he began rubbing his dial. “Dave, I´ll be honest with you… do you really think that dating would be a good idea for you? I mean, you´re both dangerously unstable, moody and irresponsible.”  
“And?”  
“A relationship is something intimate, way beyond your comprehension! Every small slip up will multiply tenfold in your own mind if you don´t react and deal with it properly!”  
Somewhat blank Dave tilted his head and looked at him. “I don´t care.”  
“It will hurt, beyond anything you´ve probably ever felt before! And you can´t simply kill someone to make it alright for yourself!”  
“Stop projecting!”  
“What?”  
“I said you should stop projecting your own fear onto my situation.”  
“I never-”  
“You aren´t helping at ALL! Urgh, I´ll just stick to the human heart plan…”  
“NO. Here, the key to a successful date is to make the day as unique and memorable as possible, while making your affections as clear as possible throughout the day… even if everything should be kept in check as to not smother your significant other.”  
“Unique you say?”  
“Yes. Gifts aren´t really anything for Valentine´s day in my opinion, as it´s either ridiculous short lived like chocolate or useless, like plushies or ornaments.”  
“Finally some solid opinions and advise… okay! Okay, I think I have an idea! See you around!”  
Suddenly Mike dashed past them and grabbed onto Phone Guy´s receiver and began talking without even dialing in a number. “We need more nail polish. A LOT.”  
After that he put it back onto his friend´s head and walked away. “Sorry Simon, thanks Simon!”  
“Wait, Simon?” Dave didn´t even paid attention to Mike beyond that point. “YOU´RE SIMON?”  
Confused and slightly taken aback by Purple Guy´s sudden interest, PG stepped back. “Uh…”  
“THE SIMON? HOLY FUCK, WHY HAVEN`T YOU TOLD ME? Simon! MY MAN!”  
Now fully terrified he began to back off. “What is the big deal…?”  
“Aw, don´t you remember me Simon? Our deal? I still owe you something!”  
“W-what…?”  
Dave smiled a disgusting grin. “What holds more worth for you?”  
The smell of smoke filled his mind. “A-ah…”  
“Five children against one adult, five quick deaths against one long torture. C´mon, don´t do me like this! You were such an impressive guy! The first of your kind that I ever met!”  
Sometimes Simon wished he still could puke. To get rid of the painful ache, of the sickening sensation in the back of his throat. Dave simply continued bubbly.  
“Really, it is an AMAZING coincidence that you survived all this bullshit! Of all the phones in the factory, you most certainly deserve it most!”  
“You… we…”  
“Of course “we”. Well, actually, you´re right, Phone Guys create themselves… I usually have nothing to do with it. With you it´s different though! I SO hoped to meet you again, Simon! A shame you don´t remember me…”  
“I… rain…”  
“YES! It was a rainy day, your brother just had left and then you saw me…”  
“Taking… them… to the saferoom… off limits for customers…”  
“Listened to the tapes with great care, like you did all things. Came to stop me, remember?”  
“You… looked at me through the holes of your suit and smiled. Your smile was… I… it was as if I was looking right into two LEDs… that man is insane, I thought. This man is really a crazed lunatic…”  
“Huh, didn´t think you were so rude.”  
“This man is crazy and he takes kids away from the public eye… he wants to do something horrible…”  
“Mind your own business, Simon, or I may have to temper with your springlocks.”  
“What are you… planning to do with the kids?” Simon couldn´t feel his body anymore, as they line for line played through that fateful day.  
“Listen here… if you don´t fuck off I´ll kill you and take the kids into the saferoom to kill them as well. Unless… I´m in a good mood today. So I´ll make you a deal! If you come back into the saferoom and trigger your springs YOURSELF, I won´t harm the kids. If you want to survive, you´ll have to leave, but… if you really want to save a bunch of ungrateful toddlers, which would probably let you die for a bar of chocolate, then…”  
Phone Guy had stopped answering and was close to a break down.  
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
“Did I stress you…?” Dave was even keeping some sort of private space. “Sorry. I didn´t mean it. I thought this was just friendly banter… You haven´t opened your head yet, I see.”  
“I… I didn´t want to…”  
Almost compassionate he stroked his back in a calming manner. “Sh… it´s all over anyway. You did what you wanted and now you´re back with us again. You got to know Mikey and Jeremy, you made a name for yourself and you even beaten the factory in its own game! Be proud and don´t think about the past anymore… if it hurts you, it isn´t worth it.”  
“You… what´s going on with you today…?”  
“Huh? Nothing! I´m just in a good mood! I found you out that it´s actually you, I have a good plan to make Old Sport mine, my new restaurant looks snazzy as fuck and all in all life is great!”  
Phone Guy stepped away from the touch, shuddering.  
Unsure of what he had done, Purple Guy retracted his hand. “Don´t be afraid of me Phoney. You´re part of the family now and family takes care of each other, right?”  
“You´re sick, Dave. There´s something really wrong with you…”  
“There´s something wrong with all of us! What´s the point?”  
“I don´t want to be part of your broken vision of a family! I´d get rid of you in a heartbeat if I could!”  
“That´s harsh… but siblings want to kill each other all the time, don´t worry. Please. Simon. You´re the perfect Phone Guy, the first I liked in the last decade! Don´t ruin this. Old Sport wants to keep you and I want to keep you as well. Don´t fuck this up for me.”  
With an almost sweet smile Dave watched him walk off. “We appreciate you here and we all just want the best for each other, right?”  
Simon was hurrying, searching for Mike, his stomach filled with cold terror. If someone could help him relax again, then it was this constantly enraged son of a gun.  
Mike was able to cuss his memories away… however that worked.  
“M-mike? Where are you?”  
Helpless he wandered the far too confusing, unfinished building until he found a small door, leading into a claustrophobic hall.  
He found the saferoom.  
There always was a saferoom.  
The door was heavy and made out of the same material as in the previous place.  
The inside´s would also be the same, he knew that for an absolute fact.  
Numb he peeked inside, but was quickly shown that he still wasn´t the all-knowing man he was assumed to be.  
“Chica, for heaven´s sake, I told you, your nails look FINE! I did what I could without buying the DLC and I won´t pay for those items out of my own pocket!”  
Mike was sitting on a stool, hissing passive-aggressively, while having a banana between shoulder and ear, apparently using it as some sort of telephone.  
“What do you mean the X-Ray shows broken bones? You don´t even HAVE fucking bones!”  
Baffled Simon stared in silence.  
Mike cursed the Orange Guy in his own head. Why the fuck was he now part of the authorities? How´s fucked up idea was that?!  
And why a… hand-doctor? What even was that supposed to be?!  
Foxy showed him his fucked up hand, with a billion of cuts, wounds and maggots.  
“How the FUCK did you DO that?”  
The pirate whined, guilty sounding. “Ay, I was trying to perfect my next play, but accidently misjudged a jump…”  
Groaning the Guard began with the cooling lotion and gave his best not to touch the open flesh, for which he had to prepare some more band aids. They would run out of disinfectant at this rate.  
Chica was having a gay old time, as she had been the first patient, since she just wouldn´t stop screaming. Now she was busy gossiping with Freddy about the new animatronics and making remarks about Mike´s abilities as hand-doctor, as well as fashion sense. Fuck them, they should pick their own fucking rings if they didn´t like his!  
“New and improved they say, but this “restaurant” doesn´t capture the charm of Freddy´s at ALL. It´s all soulless greed of the big businesses! Also, I swear, those hips do lie! Can´t even swing it properly!” With that she began giving examples of the “right” hip movements.  
“Chica, stop distracting me!” Growling Mike resisted the temptation to stop the gentle treatment and simply smear it lotion all over Foxy´s mistreated hand. “Why do you guys have nails by the way?”  
“To be beautiful, obviously!” Bonnie snarked, moody from the pain he experienced.  
“M-mike…? What´s going on?”  
PG stood in the door framing, holding onto it for dear life.  
“Isn´t it obvious? I´m trying to fix whatever those idiots broke inside of their hands.”  
“Those… idiots?”  
“The animatronics? They are most certainly aware enough to be called dumb by now.”  
“Are they… back?”  
“Back? What do you mean by-”  
Suddenly the saferoom was empty, except of him and the godforsaken suits.  
Dumbfounded Mike stared down, where just a minute ago all of his equipment had laid.  
What the fuck was even going on?  
The door opened and Mike stepped in, frowning deeply.  
Their eyes met.  
“Of fuck, I must be hallucinating again… great.” The standing Mike shook his head and grabbed onto the Fredbear suit. “Listen, hallucination, how about you just stay right here, okay? I wanna enjoy some special time with my sexy boss, so you´d do me a GIANT favor and do nothing for a while, m´kay?”  
Sincerely irritated, Mike looked at himself.  
“Y-you´re not me. I would never fucking say that!”  
“Shows what you fucking know!” Snickering Mike straightened his cap. “Don´t beat yourself up over it, you´ll disappear in an hour anyway. But until then, please don´t distract me from my booty-hunt~”  
Slowly Mike stood up, disgusted and utterly helpless. “What the fuck is WRONG with you?”  
“Oh, shouldn´t you know, Mr. I´m-totally-real? There´s nothing wrong with being curious about how far that telephone cable actually goes~”  
“You…”  
“I can´t wait to become a MIKE-ro-PHONE.”  
“Microphone… excuse me, what?”  
“See! You can´t be me, because I don´t fucking excuse myself for anything!”  
Quickly he pushed his clone onto the wall and stared at him for a minute. Hallucinations weren´t able to produce much detail, this should be-  
“M-Mike, please… what are you doing?” Phone Guy was staring back at him, his metallic eyebrows giving him a somewhat scared appearance.  
Quickly the Guard made a few steps back, shocked at his own actions and walked into someone, Phone Guy to be exact, who was standing at the door and looking worried at him.  
“Are you okay, Mike?”  
“Y-you´re… not real…”  
“What? What are you talking about, of course I´m real!”  
The Phone Guy at the wall though was nodding. “Yes, it isn´t! Snap out of it Mike, you´re scaring me!”  
“It´s all because of this wretched suit! Why do we still have that?!” Phone Guy was standing over Fredbear, clenching his fists.  
In blind panic Mike dashed out, fearing what he might would do to Simon by accident if he stayed. Those pills weren´t helping at all, they were just making everything worse! Except if there was something else behind this hell.  
How many Phone Guys died every year?  
When he reached the main hall he was back in the saferoom and watched Jeremy getting forcefully stuffed into the suit.  
The animatronics, burned and broken mechanically pushed the mangled corpse deeper into the shards, nuts and bolts, making his face almost indistinguishable from a bloody piece of meat.  
Suzy was watching over the scene, her blackened body dropping a viscous fluid onto the dirty floor. Giggling she turned around. “I hope you didn´t think I would disappear like that!”  
“I…”  
Details, Mike, details!  
It was hard to imagine details onto a creature he only had seen once before and that probably didn´t even had to obey any natural laws.  
“Haha, did I finally managed to impress you? Surprise you?” Proudly her long snout showed her glowing bright teeth. “In heaven we´ll have a lot of time to show each other our best… for now I´ll just say I´m glad you came back for us!”  
“Jeremy…”  
“We´ll all go together! Even the puppet agreed to come along with his friend! Please slip the Fredbear head over your head now, or we´ll have to do it by force!”  
The animatronics turned towards him, just noticing him standing there. Growling, hissing and steel scraping over steel was audible as they slowly moved in. Before he could step back though, two purple hands kept his wrists in an iron grip.  
“I finally found the perfect animatronic for you! Mike the Monster! You´re going to look so cool!”  
Orange Guy came into frame, frowning. “Really, this isn´t necessary…”  
“Shut up and feed him the machine!”  
Sighing he reached for his nose, keeping him from breathing, while preparing to shove a small robot into the mouth. When he had to breathe, Mike kept his teeth closed, hoping to keep the machine from entering into his body by blocking it off, but suddenly Orange Guy moved in and bit violently into his neck, forcing a yelp out of him and making him swallow the machine.  
Screaming and trashing about, he tried to gag, he could feel it clawing into his stomach, drilling through his organs, killing him slowly…  
Jeremy was standing over him, with a truly fearful expression. “I- I´m sorry, I just didn´t know what else to do…”  
“Don´t worry Jeremy, it´s the best for him.” Simon was here.  
Or maybe just in his head.  
Maybe this was a comforting death hallucination.  
Either way, at this point he was fine with both.  
“Simon…”  
“I´m here.” PG crouched down next to him, holding his hand.  
“I´m going nuts. The new medicine is horribly shitty.”  
Mike suddenly stood over himself, shaking his head. “No you idiot, your body is simply not used yet to the fucking medicine. Give it at least two more weeks before you bitch, after all with this new medicine, at least you have a small amount of money for yourself, without needing to fear having to starve yourself for half the week.”  
“Go fuck yourself.”  
Suddenly his copy began grinning, making him realizing his giant mistake. “NONONONONONO, I DIDN`T MEAN THAT!”  
Real details, real details. He forced to stare into the eyes of his copy, which suddenly became empty holes with glowing dots. “Hey. Stop being so mean to yourself.”  
His face became slightly more serious. “I´m actually just trying to help you… you´re literally helping yourself with me and I think you should listen for once in your fucking worthless life. There are BAD things down there in your brain, you know that perfectly well. But, Freddy´s taught us we could simply ignore the bad and enjoy the fun sides. Everything can be fun as long you don´t take it too seriously!”  
“So you´re saying that I should just laugh about my hallucinations?”  
“Exactly!”  
“That would probably end up in suicide! THERE`S NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THIS!”  
Mike was standing in the position he had seen his hallucination standing in, his memories fuzzy, hosting contradicting information.  
No one else was in the room, except the suits, but suits aren´t people, so it was perfectly fine to not count them, but they were still worth a mention, since without them the room would be completely barren and-  
Argh, his head hurt…  
Simon was waiting outside, silently joining his side.  
They sat down in the main hall, both pausing for a while.  
“I´ll be frank. I have no fucking idea if you´re real or not. My pills are doing dogshit to help.”  
Phone Guy nodded seriously. “I know.”  
“In that case, you would be better off leaving me the fuck alone.”  
The man didn´t move an inch. “Right now I need some advice from you…”  
“Definitely not real. The real Phone Guy would NEVER ask ME for advice!”  
“Then there should be nothing wrong with giving me your opinion!”  
Mike shortly paused, not used to this stressed out voice. Yeah, PG panicked from time to time, but usually his voice didn´t shake.  
Silently Mike closed his eyes, focusing.  
So what if it wasn´t real? If it was real it was important.  
At least he wasn´t at the brink of death this time.  
“Okay, okay. What´s up?”  
“… I´m thinking about opening my head… but I´m honestly scared.”  
“How come? Weeks ago you were ready to hang yourself, what do you have to fear?”  
“I had a brother.”  
“Yes?”  
“And he… I think he was sick or something. I really worried a lot about him.”  
“You think he´s dead?”  
Nervously laughing, Simon hid his lack of a face. “If that would be the only thing. If I remember everything and he´s dead, I will feel guilty that I haven´t opened my head earlier. I´ll be guilty of his death. If he´s alive though, I still can´t take care of him! The factory… I might have won ONE round against the factory, but that was only because of the documents. After I showed them the blue prints, the manager herself came to talk with me. She said I should consider myself lucky and be careful. If I take care of my brother, then they will get rid of me in a heartbeat.”  
“I could take care of…”  
Both looked at each other, knowing how stupid of an idea almost slipped out of Mike´s mouth.  
“No disrespect, but I think you aren´t really patient enough to deal with sick people…”  
“We could ask Jerry, I´m sure he´d love to take care of someone.”  
“Mike… I don´t want to know who I was. What if there´s some trauma that will take control once my memory is restored?! What if I´m actually a horrible person? What if…”  
“Simon, you angsty fuck! You´re OBVIOUSLY a good person!”  
“What makes you think that?!”  
“I just KNOW it!”  
“Which brings me to another point! The thing with Miller, you said knowing wasn´t all that important!”  
“GAH! Stop putting words in my mouth! I said that I didn´t need to know a name, to know that we would have to get rid of him!”  
“So why would I need to know my past to be happy?!”  
“YOU`RE THE ONE WHO WANTED TO OPEN YOUR HEAD IN THE FIRST PLACE!”  
“I JUST WANTED YOUR OPINION!”  
“IN THAT CASE! Do it! After all, it apparently haunts you to not know these things. You´ll never stop asking yourself who your brother is and what happened to him, you´ll never stop wondering who you were before.”  
“What if I become someone else, once I´m my full self again? What if this isn´t who I really am? Memories shape a person after all… what if I remember that I HATE people like you and Jeremy and try to hurt you two?”  
“Simon. You are you and there´s no way you´ll change that now. But if you stay this scared, then you´ll never be able to really be free!”  
“What is freedom? We are all controlled by circumstances and-”  
“SHUT UP! I´m WAY too unstable for this conversation!”  
“… Alright. I open my head.”  
“We.”  
“What?”  
“Think I´ll fucking leave that to you?! You´ll probably fuck everything up, there´s no way in hell you´re doing it on your own!”  
It seemed as if Simon was going to say something, but he leaned back instead. “Thank you.”  
“Geez, as if I´m doing anything… at all…”  
“About your hallucinations…”  
“DON´T.”  
“Shouldn´t you request the old medicine back?”  
“I can´t. At least until two weeks after starting using it.”  
“Why?”  
“Because… my body needs to get used to it first…”  
Mike was trying to hide something. “Mike? Please, just tell me what´s wrong.”  
“Fucking FINE! I lied to Doctor Deern, that there´s nothing wrong with it, so he wouldn´t keep me away. I´m sick of tests and I… I didn´t want to… stay there. If I´m there, no one´s keeping an eye on this shithole after all!”  
From time to time, Simon wondered if it wasn´t better to open Mike´s head instead, since there was quite a bit wrong with him. Or at least he couldn´t quite figure him out. Deciding that both of them were probably tired of their own fears, PG tried to change the topic to something more… laid-back.  
“You don´t like Valentine´s day, do you?” Phone Guy scratched his neck, awkwardly.  
Mike decided to relax a little, as he understood the friendly offer. “C´mon Simon, I hate every day.”  
“But you´re… I mean… when Jeremy gave you the chocolate, you…”  
“Well, yeah, it makes me uncomfortable. Giving gifts today comes with a really heavy implication and I hate that.”  
“Uh… so…”  
“Also, it´s really disgusting in itself. It´s just to a forced day that forces to “prove” your feelings, making the “proof” meaningless. The big cooperations just desperately want to turn love into a buyable product and everyone is falling for it as if we don´t have a brain. If you fucking like someone, the day shouldn´t matter. If your partner can´t hang out with you on Valentine´s day it shouldn´t be anything to be angry about, at least not more than on every other day it doesn´t work out. Love is now more for status than for real connection.”  
Surprised Phone Guy tilted his head. “You thought about this a lot…”  
Embarrassed Mike sat up straight. “W-well, I was a teen once as well, even if it´s hard to believe!”  
“And you were insecure about not having a partner…?”  
“SHUT up! We all were stupid when we were younger!”  
Laughing at his flustered face, Simon sat closer and patted his back. “You´ve grown out of it, right?”  
“Right.”  
Loudly the last employee made his arrival clear. “HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEREEEEEEEEEEEEEE`S THE ORANGE! AND! ALICE! THE SUPERHEROS OF THE BROKEN CHAIN CALLED FREDDY´S!”  
Too lazy to stand up and come closer, Mike simply screamed his question. “WHY ARE YOU LOOKING LIKE A TRANSGENDER CLOWN?”  
“Girlstime with Alice and Baby… doesn´t it look good?” Old Sport inspected his colored nails.  
“It looks like something that would crawl out of conservative’s worst nightmare…”  
“Luckily it´s just normal paint!” The Orange Guy began to lick of the color on his nails and face to soon enough appear norm- Usual again.  
“SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORTSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!”  
Out of a rift between the dimensions, Dave pounced onto him hugging him with all of his limps, making both of them tumble onto the ground, laughing. Yet, just as quickly up as he was down, Purple Guy picked up Alice and carried her over to the two Guards sitting in the main hall.  
“Here, take care of her for some time, alright? Alice, stay with them and behave! Don´t bully them too much, okay?”  
The small animatronic giggled and looked at Mike, who was getting a bad vibe already. “Oh hell no…”  
“Thanks, see you later!”  
And with that he bolted back and picked up his friend, who had just managed to get back up on his own, and carried him away, babbling excitedly.  
“I have a really good plan for today!”  
“Ah- wait up, I haven´t even seen this whole place yet…!”  
“Aw, come on, there isn´t anything interesting here… well… maybe the secret passage would be something worth checking out. BEFORE THAT THOUGH!” Dave made finger guns. “I wanted to complement your nice ass, but you´d probably be weirded out and that would be a BUMmer!”  
Laughing Old Sport fired back. “ASStounding that you´re worried about something like that!”  
“Pff, I should have seen it coming that you´d become CHEEKy with your puns!”  
“Come on, we shouldn´t ASScalate this situation anymore!”  
“Was thinking the same a minute ago, BUTT fuck it I ain´t no quitter!”  
“You really want to get to the BOTTOM of this rabbit hole?”  
They grinned brightly at each other, snickering like mad dolphins on crack.  
Smoothly Dave went in for the next attack. “Hey, your name is getting pretty old, so how about I call you mine from now on~?”  
“I see someone had magnets for breakfast, I really feel the attraction!”  
Smiling Purple Guy had to accept his defeat. No matter what he threw at him, his friend could fire a twice as cheesy line back. Quickly he pulled him aside and signed towards a fairly small appearing vent.  
“Do you see that? That´s going to be our secret passage!”  
“I don´t know what your vegetable genes give you for superpowers, but I won´t fit through that thing.”  
“Ha, no, it only appears so small to make sure no one else tries to get through it, once you open the vent you´ll see that there´s a lot of space in there!”  
With “a lot” he meant about enough space for one and a half crawling man, yet you shouldn´t be too picky about these kind of things. Dave entered and made clear that he expected Old Sport to follow, who curiously obeyed.  
Inside of the vents were colorful markings at each split and there were even possibilities to climb upward.  
“When it was build the company believed it was made to be part of Freddy´s Funhouse, which it obviously isn´t, the second company was told it was a mistake and to reuse it as air vents. The colors sign which room you´d enter if you follow the path, I´m not fully sure about the ways upward though. Right now, there are wall bars… Should I take some of them down and use a rope instead? We could always carry one around and once we would be up there we could get rid of anyone who´d chase us quite easily, yet if we don´t have a rope, or someone else gets rid of it, we couldn´t get from the downward area to the second floor…”  
“Where does the gray area lead to?”  
“The office, of course! So the animatronics can get the Nightguard easier! Which means there are cameras in there, just a heads-up.”  
“I haven´t seen see office yet! Show me!”  
“The office is in the employees only area, together with the toddler-strangle-room.”  
“Saferoom?”  
“Saferoom.”  
“We literally now have kid-abducting-machines and you still build a room for that?”  
“Well… it… uh… has a lot of other functions! Never mind that, here, I show a neat feature of this vent! At certain points you can take off some plates and spy on the people down there… or fall and break your neck, whatever floats your boat.”  
They looked down to witness something eerily similar to a poker round between Mike and Alice. The small ballerina was almost invisible from the angle, so maybe Mike was playing against himself, while Phoney was lying on the ground, laughing hysterical.  
Disturbed Dave closed the opening again. “Alice is going to be so broken after this. It´s not every day that you lose all your money and pride in one swoop…”  
“Ah, don´t worry I MAY have taught her a thing or two… after all I´m a good father!”  
“You taught her to play poker?”  
“Basic education!”  
Pondering that point shortly, he could see the different values that learning to poker would teach, for example weighing risks, judging character and predict actions, all while learning to shield your own motives. Then a completely different thought distracted him.  
“SPORTSY! This isn´t the only secret passage! There´s one outside as well, so we can get quickly and unsuspected from A to B. Also, you can easily kill someone there, which you should refrain from if you´re in the vents…”  
“LEAD ME TOWARDS OUR MURDER PASSAGE!”  
As promised they exited through the fairly standard office, two doors at each side, one door for the vent and a computer, where the only addition were the option for controlled shock.  
Without even minding they went past Mike and Phoney who had been tied up with his mechanical cord.  
Alice smugly stood next to them, hands in her hips and giggling satisfied, while Mike tried to convey as much annoyance as possible with simple groaning. “Stop with that smugness right now!”  
Laughing she twirled around.  
“No, fuck off, that was NOT part of the deal! Untie us!”  
Shaking her index finger at him, she sat back.  
“Don´t fucking act all that innocent all of a sudden, you´re the biggest liar I´ve ever met! By the way, how does your cord even reach this far, Simon?!”  
“My cord is actually a lot longer than you can see here, but I can enable and disable a block that keeps it at a certain length. When I ripped it off, I blocked it from gaining length.”  
“Why did you disable that block when she began this nonsense?!”  
“U-uh, I just…”  
Alice snickered, driving Mike to kick after her. “NO, shut up! That´s NOT it! You know, he probably just didn´t want to get his wire ripped out again by you mini-psycho! Right?!”  
“O-oh, uh, OF COURSE, I-I mean…”  
She kept going and Mike gave a slight screech. “Why am I even TALKING to you?! You don´t even DESERVE to be talked to!”  
Phone Guy tried to get into a more comfortable position. “Can you actually talk to her?”  
“Who the fuck knows at this point, but would it make a difference?”  
Slightly smiling Simon shook his head. “No, not really…”  
Victoriously the small animatronic sat upon the table, looking down at them mischievously. Somehow now PG began helplessly snickering as well, making Mike growl. “What is now so funny for YOU of all people?!”  
“Nothing, it´s just… when I think back, just a few months ago you were squirming away from my touch as if I was contagious, now you´re seem not bothered by me anymore!”  
“A-AH… What are you even TALKING about?! OH MY, MIKE ISN`T OVERREACTING TO ME ANYMORE LIKE A FUCKING BITCH! THAT MUST MEAN HE… he…”  
Phone Guy could judge Mike´s redness by the heat he could feel in his neck.  
“Since when are you such a smug bitch anyway? Urgh, never mind, tell me what I have to do to get out of this hell.”  
Alice leaned forward expectantly, continuously giggling. Mike on the other hand got stiff. “What?! FUCK NO! Why are you girls so fixated on the lives of others anyway!?”  
Insulted she turned away, crossing her arms.  
“You piece of shit…”  
Simon felt slightly bad for Mike, especially now that he could feel a lot more tension through Mike´s back. Most likely this caused him quite a bit of stress. “Please, Alice, let us go! We have to look after your friends after all.”  
She crossed her legs and gave a fairly sarcastic laugh, making Mike really tense up. “I´m not a fucking psycho, cunt, I wouldn´t do that!”  
“What did she say?”  
“She meant I could just rip your cord apart… disgusting little monster.”  
“Alice, can I do something to get us out?”  
Standing up straight, she jumped down and walked over to the man, beginning to rummage about in his pocket.  
“W-what are you doing?! T-that´s a little rude!”  
Smugly she took out a small note and some chocolate, sitting down, unfolding it and began reading. A few minutes later, she inspect them, before ripping the note into shreds. Satisfied the tiny creature began to unwrap them, laughing.  
“She said we would both die alone.” Mike made a huge step away from Simon, who was confused beyond belief.  
“That note… t-that note, it was just my shopping list! There wasn´t anything weird on it I swear!”  
“Yeah…” Mike still kept his distance.  
“BELIEVE ME! The chocolate, I admit, I thought about giving to you s-since you always are so down a-and I thought that chocolate might help, b-but I thought better of it, since Jeremy already made you some… R-really, I´m not trying to be weird!”  
“That ain´t the problem, I believe you more than I would ever believe a piece of mental cancer.”  
“So, it´s fine, right?” Simon tried to touch his shoulder, just to see Mike jerk away. Disappointed he completely lost all energy in his body.  
Mike sharply inhaled the air, before gently patting PG on the head. Turning his way as if that would obscure his red cheeks in any way he sighed. “Fucking stop with the emo-attitude! Today is just… weird for me.”  
“Ah, don´t worry, it´s the same for me. I guess this new restaurant has us both on our toes, right?”  
“Right.”  
Alice was obviously displeased, but began climbing the ill-tempered Guard anyway.  
“We are going to check after Dave and Orange, see you later.”  
“If there´s any problem, shout as loud as possible.”  
“The only problems that there are going to be are when I catch those two and give them some payback for this abomination of an animatronic… and that won´t be my screams you´re going to hear!”  
Impatient Alice led him outside onto the construction zone, but soon got confused and pointed to the ground.  
“He´s down there?”  
She nodded vigorously.  
“Alright, he´ll probably show up through those holes…” Mike followed the trail of smaller and bigger gaps in the ground, until he spotted an unsupervised crane.  
An idea popped into his mind. “Hey, Alice, how about we greet your creator in style?”  
Parallel to this situation, Dave and Old Sport were having a grand old time!  
“Right now it´s a little barebones and you can still differentiate those openings from each other, but soon enough this will be built to be as puzzling as possible! And the echo is something I specifically required!”  
“So, we get someone down here, chase him around and kill him when he´s too worn out to fight back?”  
“If we want to, yeah! We could try to drive them insane as well!”  
“Sweet!” Old Sport began to wander off, but was stopped by his friend.  
“Careful, or you might get lost! Here, take my hand~”  
Seeing a great opportunity to annoy and embarrass Dave, Old Sport stepped back, grinning. “What if I don´t?”  
For a moment Dave looked shocked, but soon enough he grinned even wider than his counterpart. “In that case…”  
All of a sudden Purple Guy bolted away, laughing like a maniac and while Old Sport began running as soon as he realized the plan, yet he was already lost at the next choice of openings.  
The psycho´s voice rang through all places. “Come on, find me~”  
“I can´t! Where are you?”  
“Don´t make a wrong choice, or you might not find the exit on your own! Maybe you´ll have to beg me to come pick you up~!”  
“Argh, Dave, you fiend! I´ll find a way, don´t you underestimate me!”  
“It´s sweet when you´re trying to impress me!”  
Amused Old Sport picked the middle way, convinced that it would take twenty minutes at MOST until he would find an exit or Dave would get bored and come to get him anyway.  
Enjoying the mystery behind every corner, Old Sport wasn´t worried in the slightest as the earth began to softly rumble, until he heard Dave´s voice again.  
“Ooookaaaay… this is awkward. Sportsy, you know that these tunnels aren´t really… stable?”  
“Oh-oh.”  
“Oh-oh indeed, Old Sport… uh… okay, I´ll have to get you. No, wait, I´m closer to the exit, you have to get to me.”  
“How? I swear to Breadbear, if you manage to trap me down here for three weeks, I´ll-”  
“Try following my voice! Yeah, I know, the echo makes it really hard, but not fully impossible. If you close your eyes and are really silent, it might work. Just… uh… try to be quick?”  
“I don´t really have a choice, do I? Okay, just… say something…”  
“You´re coming closer to me.”  
Shortly pausing, Old Sport began to track back, as there it sounded the strongest.  
“Closer.”  
The tunnels made it sometimes sound as if he was unbelievable close, just to sound far away in the next second. The echo bounced from wall to wall, but right now it was possible to follow it…  
With closed eyes it was dangerous though. After walking into a wall and tripping over a stone, he learned his lesson and walked slowly and carefully.  
“Closer.”  
Hoping that it would help, he began to slow down his breath.  
“Closer.”  
Step by step he felt the differences in the ground, small stones and sandy patches were alternating between each other. Weird how you much more you noticed when you hadn´t anything else to concentrate on.  
“Closer.”  
Air was blowing through the place, probably just as lost as he felt. It made his skin crawl a bit and he wasn´t sure if it was because of the cold or the thought itself.  
Even wind could get trapped by this maze.  
“Closer.”  
Unsure Old Sport guessed that he was pretty close now, as Dave´s voice kept almost consistent in volume now. Amazing how Dave apparently managed to memorize this hell. Dave was an odd person, if you thought about it…  
“Closer.”  
Suddenly he was walked against something soft, warm and big and before even being able to react, he was tightly embraced. Taking by surprise the Orange Guy was reddening in less than a second. “A-ah, don´t scare me like that!”  
“You´re cute when you rely on me~”  
“Y-You´re freaky when you want attention!”  
“Can you blame me for wanting some affection?”  
“I can blame you for putting us in danger…”  
“Shut your mouth, Sportsy, or I´ll shut it for you~” With a wink he made clear that it wasn´t meant as that much of a threat. “Besides, you´ve already seen me embarrassed before, this is called justice!”  
“Geez, you´re really bad at flirting…”  
“W-what?! But I put so much effort into this!” Another rumble shook the ground reminding them that they should leave. Dave was too busy pouting to care though. “You´re a dingus, Old Sport! A mean one at that! That just calls for revenge!”  
“Fine, I´m down for that, but please let´s just leave, alright-”  
Without warning Dave took his face and kissed him.  
Afterwards he simply snickered and left outside, leaving the dumbfounded and brightly burning Old Sport behind.  
Goddammit, Dave would manage to actually end him by stopping his heart.  
Following him out, he barely was missed by a giant wrecking ball.  
“WHAT IS HAPPENING?”  
“WHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA, THAT`S WHAT YOU FUCKING GET TO LEAVE ME ALONE WITH YOUR DEMONS! WE ALLIED AND ARE NOW STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!” Mike was sitting inside of the construction machine, grinning insanely, his eyes glowing brightly. “NOW! PREPARE TO DIE- I MEAN SUFFER SOME INJURIES!”  
“READY WHEN YOU ARE!” Dave was jumping around, alive and excited for some reason.  
Not hesitating to go along with that bait, he swung around the wrecking ball, destroying parts of the surroundings, while missing the human by an inch. Not exactly missing, but rather being dodged, since Dave was reacting in the last second.  
“I wanna too! Try to get me!” Old Sport wasn´t ready to miss out on this fun.  
“YOU ALL GET YOUR SHARE, DON`T YOU WORRY!” Mike was operating and began driving towards them, too slow to actually risking to kill them, after all the machine wasn´t made for speed, but considering that he now had the tactical advantage…  
Old Sport and Dave used the tunnels like whac-a-moles, jumping in and out, trying to trick and distract the Guard, who was having more and more fun with trying to kill his co-workers.  
The colorful duo suddenly appeared together and as Mike attempted to do a strike, Dave threw his partner up, helping him land on top of the wrecking ball.  
“MAKE ME FLY, MIKEY!”  
“I`LL GET YOU OFF, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!”  
They went round and round, as more and more stuff got destroyed and soon enough Mike found a way to loosen Orange´s grip, so he prepared for the final-  
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Phone Guy came to ruin all the fun again. Aggressive the psychos exchanged a glance, prepared to give their boss a piece of their mind.  
To everyone´s surprise it was Mike though who began telling him off.  
“We´re just having some fun! Stop freaking out so much!”  
“How is THIS fun?! You´re destroying EVERYTHING! We can´t legally do that!”  
“Whatever! No one actually CARES when something breaks, no one actually cares about anything! It´s my turn to have fun and you come to RUIN it! I just want to squish them into a pulp, why do YOU care?!”  
“Mike…?” Phone stepped a bit away from the cabin of the crane, having noticed the weird glow in his eyes and the untypical slight twitching.  
“What is it? Huh? Jealous because you don´t have the testicles to do this yourself? Fuck off, Phoney!”  
“Since… since when do you call me Phoney?”  
Mike stopped, staring down at the controls.  
For a split second Simon feared that he would get crushed by a wrecking ball, yet his friend stepped defeated out of the machine and shook his head. “Sorry, Simon. It´s been a really rough day.”  
“I´m just worried about you.”  
Dave and Old Sport grinned at each other and began to chant. “KISS, KISS, KISS, KISS!”  
“There´s no way I´m going to waste my energy on this. Short answer; he doesn´t even have a mouth. Come on, let´s go and take a look at the arcades.”  
Four pairs of eyes watched them wandering off, of which two were located on top of not yet fully constructed roof.  
Jeremy and Marion were sitting next to each other, in silence. They held each other’s hand as it was the only way Jeremy could get any kind of answer for his words.  
“I really like how great everyone gets along! They are all so good at working with each other…”  
The animatronic weakly pressed his hand, agreeing in a disagreeing manner.  
“But you have to at least agree that they really care about their friends!”  
This time the pressure was more firm, making Jeremy smile. For a while they sat in silence, enjoying the amazing view and freedom it gave them.  
The sun had already crept over the sky, signaling that they soon would have to leave. As Jeremy addressed that fact, the Puppet didn´t response at all.  
“Marion?”  
No reaction.  
“I have something for you… here!” Carefully he let go of the claw and took off his necklace.  
Finally the Marionette moved, slowly raised himself to take a closer look at the object.  
“It´s… an old ornament that gets passed down in our family.” Awkwardly snickering, the boy nervously watched his friend. “My mom always said I should give it to someone that I want to be with until I die. I guess she meant a wife, but… hey! I want you to have it! After all, even a protector needs protecting!”  
Jeremy…  
For the first time in an eternity he heard this voice again. Out of an impulse he squeezed the animatronic as strongly as possible.  
J-Jeremy, please… that hurts…  
“You´re lying!” But the human released him anyway, almost crying out of relief. “I thought you w-would NEVER speak to m-me again!”  
I was… thinking. Quite a bit.  
As if understanding how precious this ornament was, he softly clenched it in his fist.  
Would you please help me put it on?  
“Of course! Here!” Happy Jeremy closed it around the thin neck, giving a thumbs-up when seeing the result. “It fits you perfectly!”  
Jeremy!  
Now his voice got more energy as well, making the boy want to scream out of pure bliss. How quickly the necklace magic had worked! Amazing! “Yes?”  
I also have something for you. Please accept it.  
“How couldn´t I? I´d love a gift from you!”  
Gifts? Some gifts are more… curses.  
“No! If it´s a gift, there will be some good to come from it!”  
Ah, for heaven´s sake… here.  
The Marionette took Jeremy´s wrist and wrapped something around it. It was a white bracelet, with a tiny button on the side. As Jeremy pressed it, it began glowing green, simultaneously with Marion´s eyes.  
If you activate it, I will always know where you are. Use it when you have a problem and need me.  
“Silly Marion! You´re always around anyway, aren´t you?”  
It´s… more of an emotional… gesture.  
“O-oh, sorry! I will cherish it! Forever!”  
It is actually something from… a long time ago.  
“Really? Tell me!”  
Never mind, it isn´t that interesting. Basically… it was the sign about which kid to pay close attention to.  
“Haha! That´s now me? YEAY!”  
Marion leaned onto him, softly stroking his hair.  
I can´t make you any great promises…  
“Just stay with me and I will always say my life was happy!”  
Really…? For you it´s that simple?  
“Happiness doesn´t need to be complicated!”  
Maybe you´re right.  
“Most certainly!”  
There´s actually one more thing.  
“Anything for you!”  
We need to take back control.  
Smoothly the creature raised to its full height and stared over the scenery before them. The red glow of the dying sun drenched the whole world in blood.  
It would be foolish to think Henry would give up this easily. Freddy´s is still haunted and we have to make it right, as well as freeing those pitiful children that were brainwashed into believing that William could replace their lost family, as long as they follow his path of harm and hatred.  
“Maybe Dave really just wants a family?”  
Jeremy, you have not seen them yet. Please do not talk about things you cannot understand.  
“You´re talking in that weird way again…” The boy whined.  
That is because I need to regain my confidence! I shall not let myself being tricked into my old, powerless mindset! I WILL FIX EVERYTHING! I am on the same level as Henry and I WILL prove it! I am the one in control, this restaurant is mine by default, as I am the one inhabiting it.  
Out of the corner of his eyes, Marion noticed slight worry in Jeremy´s expression, but as soon as the human noticed that he was being looked at, he smiled brightly.  
“You are the best Marion! Don´t let anyone ever beat you down! But… you´re better than this Henry-guy, right? Maybe you shouldn´t… let him… influence you this much…” His words became slower, as now a real frown was plastered over his face. “I´m sorry, I… I guess I don´t really understand anything. Please believe me when I say that I just worry… also, I don´t really trust you, I think you might try to hurt people again!”  
I won´t lie to you: Yes, I will try to end William and Henry.  
“I don´t want that…”  
When anything happens, I will make sure you won´t have to feel guilty about it.  
“B-but…”  
William as well as Orange Guy know that I plan to erase them, there´s no way you could help them in any way.  
“It´s not just about them… Revenge will only lead to more revenge! You can´t be free, you can´t be happy if you do nothing but planning to hurt people! A-and… I want you to be happy!”  
Once more Jeremy hugged him tightly, managing to get a smile out of him. He was thankful for Jeremy´s existence, even if it was most certainly tiring.  
You should not worry this much. I´m not a child… I know what is good and what is bad for me.  
“Your age doesn´t have anything to do with it. Neither children nor adults really KNOW what´s good or bad for them, but no one cares about adults, so their suffering is ignored…”  
As long as I have you by my side, I´m sure I won´t lose myself inside of my vortex of hatred.  
Now Jeremy was the one who stayed silent, instead grabbing his hand and leaning into his friend. A while they stayed like that, until the boy snickered a little.  
“At least you´re talking again.”  
Marionette smiled gently.  
I made my decision and am now ready to return to a more social life.  
“That makes me glad.” The sun had almost disappeared, some brave stars had conquered the sky.  
It was time to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OVER. 10.000. WORDS.  
> I´m sorry, but I really couldn´t find anything I wanted to cut out… I hope this extra-long chapter is fine?  
> You could see it as a Valentine´s present…? Please?  
> Welp, thanks to BadPinkUpLines for beta-reading and thank YOU for reading! You guys mean a lot to me and I can´t imagine spending my Valentine´s Day rather than reading your commenst! ^w^  
> Stay happy and healthy!


	23. The Grand Opening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!  
> GATHER 'ROUND! GATHER 'ROUND!!  
> Sit back, relax, and please, stay in your seats!  
> KICK YOUR FEET UP AND GRAB SOME POPCORN!!!  
> Oh, and of course...  
> OOHHH LEST WE NOT FORGET...!!  
> ENJOY THE SHOW!!
> 
> Enjoy the show - NateWantsToBattle feat. JackSepticEye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to everyone who feels/is sick. I feel your pain, my friends ;u;  
> ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

Excitement rushed through his veins.  
It was better than any kind of killing, it was even a little better than any kind of creating… but only because it was part of creating.  
The presentation.  
Ah… how long has it been?  
When was the last time he was in front of the press?  
Must have been quite a long time ago… Henry had been next to him that time.  
“Is my dress wrinkled?” Baby was sitting down and standing up every other minute, walking in circles, giggling nervously at whatever Alice was doing. Dave felt sympathetic as he wanted to do the same.  
Freddy was consistently telling jokes to Bonbon, apparently trying to get him to calm down, while Ballora was sitting next to them, listening intensely but never really reacting in any notable way. The only real reason why they weren´t all up and running for the show, was that Old Sport was still getting ready and Dave would be fucked with a ten inch pole before he would miss the moment he would walk out of that door.  
Slightly jumpy he fixed his own bowtie and rabbit ears. If he had one penny for every time Mike said that it was going to look retarded, he probably could buy material for twenty more restaurants, but he NEEDED a good excuse to get Sportsy to wear a suit, tie and ears à-la-Fredbear and he would get heaven and hell to move for this! If he would have needed to build up a whole dark empire to achieve this moment, he would have done it as fast as possible, cringe or no cringe.  
Also, he thought he was looking pretty snazzy himself, those ears gave him a sly appearance… right?  
Finally the bedroom door creaked and a slightly embarrassed voice was audible. “Why are we wearing this again…?”  
“As a masterful planned out throwback to the beginnings of animatronics, evoking nostalgic feelings in the youngsters who have now become parents, while also reinforcing the “quirky” nature of our franchise AND being a visual metaphor for the evolution of animatronics that are by now almost indistinguishable from humans!”  
“Makes sense… I guess… haven´t expected that much thought in this.”  
“You´re STILL underestimating me!”  
Old Sport stepped out of his hiding, making Dave forgetting any previous grudge and thought in general.  
YES!  
It was GREAT!  
His heart was racing at about five million beats per second, so he´d might die in a minute, but that was worth it.  
He would probably need therapy for his unreasonable bliss, but DAMN, those EARS, that SUIT, that TOP HAT, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!  
HE COULD JUST EAT HIM UP!  
And the way he tilted his head and furrowed his brows with reddish cheeks, he could simply tear open his skin and crawl-  
“Are you listening to me?” Old Sport was waving his hands in front of his braindead partner, before giving up and turning around towards his mechanical family.  
It was quite silly how they crowded the small living room, simply by sitting around clueless. Alright, most of them were moving in some way, except Ballora, who might had shut down herself at this point. Baby skipped towards him, hugging him more carefully, after she broke some of his rips the last time she tried that and began twirling on the point. Her skirt was glittering slightly as light shined on it. “Dad, am I cute?”  
“Of course! You remind me of a… uh… an idol?”  
“What´s that?” Curiously she inspected her dress again.  
“Something like a popstar, I think!”  
“Oh, then it´s PERFECT!” Once more she twirled and posed appropriately. “You look great yourself, Dad! Did Father choose this one for you?”  
“How did you tell?” Her laughter made him somewhat question the motives behind Dave suddenly throwing these clothes into his face and telling him that it was incredible necessary to wear this for the show.  
“Because it really brings out your charm!” Smiling sweetly she turned away, leaving her confused guarding to ponder the whole situation.  
Foxy had begun to eat the couch, as Freddy´s hysterical laughter filled the whole house after an especially bad pun. Ballora suddenly raised herself and softly put a finger over her lips.  
“Is it time? We have a lot to prepare…”  
“YOU`RE RIGHT!” Dave had reawaken out of his stupor. “The car is ready and we even have a license in case you want to take a stroll around… but remember, it is POSSIBLE someone would try to shoot you, so careful!”  
Ballora decided to take charge. “It would be more appropriate to travel with the car, as it would take away some surprise if people would be able to share pictures of us.”  
“Oh that is right! Aw… I was looking forward to seeing the outside…” Baby was sighing.  
Old Sport was noting that Baby had started to talk quite more normal for a girl her… age…? “Don´t worry, once the show is over we´ll walk around wherever you want!”  
“But then I will be stared at… and I get incredibly nervous when people stare weird at me...”  
“But B-Baby, don´t you h-have tototo perform today?! Should I-I-I take your part?” Funtime Freddy was leaning forward, his twitchy manners almost making him appear almost threatening.  
“That is something different…” Insulted Baby crossed her arms. “When I´m not on a stage, but people stare at me it makes me feel guilty. After all I´m made to entertain and when I walk around, I´m not in any way entertaining…”  
“I w-w-would be entertaining! You have to- have to- have to come up with s-something on the SPOT!”  
“Freddy, you fill a different role from mine! There is no way you can fairly compare that!”  
“B-Baby hehehehehe! A real baby this time! C-can´t even d-d-deal with-with-with someone being BETTER than y-you!”  
“Freddy, I´ll show you what better really-”  
“Kids, calm down!” Purple Guy stroked both of them over the head. “You will need that energy for your performance! Come on now, it´s time for rehearsal!”  
And they did, more than five hours it took to rehearse timing, lines and actions.  
All in all they were very productive.  
Just like a certain young Guard on his computer.  
Marion was watching Jeremy, unsure what exactly he was researching, or if he should intervene. Clacking and clicking rang through the flat, shortly pausing for a few minutes before resuming again. Sometimes the human made a approving or disapproving noise or fell back, with a tired sigh. It was irritating to say the least, so Marion decided to wrap himself around his friend and stop this nonsense.  
Jeremy… what are you doing?  
“I´m trying to find out the names of the children we saved!”  
Why? They´re gone.  
“Well… we came so far and I kinda think it´s only respectful to find out their names. I wanna make a small memorial for them!”  
Do you want to do that for every kid they killed?  
There was quite a heavy dose of sarcasm in those words.  
“If I can, yes! There isn´t that much of a problem with that… we could simply write their names on a paper and let it fly into the sky with a balloon!”  
WHY?  
“To remember them!”  
Marion couldn´t follow that line of thinking, no matter how hard he tried.  
Silently he observed as Jeremy clicked from article to article, changing search words from names, to dates, to places, never really disappointed, but sometimes sighing in frustration.  
Five minutes later, he powered down the computer. “Let´s go Marion! Now that the restaurant is pretty far away, so we´ll have to start to walk earlier! Not that I would mind!”  
Giggling excitedly, Jeremy quickly dressed up in jacket and sprinted onwards, visibly motivated for this day, while Marion felt tense. This was a show off, no doubts about it. William would show what he was able to create and what his machines were capable of… at least the legal things.  
As a result, this would be the perfect opportunity to sneak a peek at what he would have to go up against. Scout weaknesses in character, test the specialties, watch habits and reactions.  
Save inside of the backpack, Marionette considered his viable options in dealing with his new foes. Those souls were corrupted beyond believe, yet… maybe… they could be turned around one more time… Goddamn. Jeremy had slightly infected him.  
No, Jeremy´s way of thinking wasn´t all too bad in this scenario.  
Those were children after all, not as experienced, not as sure about themselves as he was and most certainly receptive to manipulation.  
The soft up and down of Jeremy´s walking, almost made him snooze off, despite the tension he felt due to the mental war that would surely soon ensue. Weird how Jeremy apparently didn´t mind to walk for one or more hours to get to his job… well, at least he would be on time now, instead of way too early.  
In front of the giant building complex, there were already hundreds of people, an audience of curious onlookers and sensation seeking reporter… at least that was what one would notice if they would let their eyes wander in this sea of people. Even Marion, safe and sound in his small space, could feel the amount of humans around.  
Their mumbling voices, whispers, laughs, mixed in the air, giving the situation an almost historic vibe. Everyone´s expectation prickled through their veins, forcing them to move around constantly, a buzzing, humming beehive.  
Inside of the main building it was even worse. The high walls echoed every noise back into the room, turning it into white noise.  
Marion peeked out of the bag, the curiosity finally being too much.  
He was peeking physically, since lately it became almost painful to rip apart the connection between his body and soul.  
All kinds of adults were standing around, chattering, watching the stage, the only thing really illuminated. Apparently there was also some snacks and drinks offered. Marion shook his head, as he asked himself why the hell William did ALL of this. For him? Probably not, as it took quite a bit of the threatening vibe away, something Purple Guy would make sure not to happen. Did he do it for himself? But… that wouldn´t make much sense either…  
Jeremy was also practically vibrating in excitement. “This is so awesome! Look at those small pizzas! I LOVE IT!”  
Carefully and politely the boy slipped through the crowd towards the food, as always happy to snack on something unhealthy. A few familiar faces revealed themselves out of the sea of strangers.  
Mike was basically pressed to the wall, his eyes shifting around paranoid. The poor guy resembled a caged animal more than anything else in this moment. Thankfully, Phone Guy was close to him, softly touching his shoulders whenever it became worse. Neither of them talked, but at least they were together.  
To the other side, really off in a corner, Marionette could catch a glimpse of the detective. Really, he was just as persistent as Purple Guy, yet sadly not as lucky. Taking care of restless souls was a pretty ungrateful job.  
Happily Jeremy munched on his pizza, as slowly the room got even darker and the lights around the stage became subtly brighter. Everyone turned to see if the show was about to start.  
The curtain stayed close, but there was some movement behind it. Another few seconds passed and the humanoid animatronic with red hair came out. Shyly she smiled and waved, before stepping in front of the curtain.  
Oh god, it was bad. Robots shouldn´t move so smoothly, robots shouldn´t look so human! This was right up the uncanny valley, yet somehow no one seemed to notice, instead they smiled brightly at the sight of this abomination. Even Jeremy stayed completely quiet for a moment.  
Suddenly he began to rush forward, forcing his way through the people.  
Jeremy, what are you doing?!  
“She´s BEAUTIFUL! I need to have a closer look!”  
What do you mean, “Beautiful”?! This thing is a nightmare!  
“Nightmare?! She´s perfect!”  
No one even glanced at the guy who was speaking to himself, as Baby had begun to speak.  
“Hello everyone! The show will begin momentarily… everyone, please stay at your seats.” She giggled childishly and played with her fingers. “But it might take a while… our creator somehow got… lost.”  
“Father got lost?” A little Bonnie puppet showed itself. “Where could he be?”  
“Ah! Bonnie! Where´s Freddy? Shouldn´t you be with him?”  
“You know, he became somewhat… unBEARable!”  
Violent laughter came from out of view and Funtime Freddy revealed himself. His weird voice immediately made him the center of attention. “Hey Bon-bon, t-t-that´s mean! What should our-our-our audience think o-of you?”  
“Now that they get to know you, I´m sure they´ll be on my side!” Sassy Bon-bon crossed his arms and turned away, as Freddy seemed to only noticing said onlookers.  
“H-hello there! WELCOME! WELCOME TO THE FREDDY-SHOW! I, as the m-main mascot-”  
“You aren´t the main mascot, Freddy…” Baby shook her head, disapprovingly, but still smiling.  
“L-let´s ask the people here! E-E-EVERYONE! Who´s the-the-the mascot of Freddy´s?”  
“Isn´t it unfair to ask the question like that?”  
From the ceiling, a voice sounded. A spotlight activated, showing Purple Guy, sitting far too high for comfort. Carefree he let his feet dangle, as if he could just fly down whenever he wanted.  
“Father? How did you get up there?” Baby looked up, sounding worried.  
“I dunno?” The man shrugged and laughed loudly. “Any idea how to get me down?”  
Freddy laughed as well. “Guess-guess-guess you´ll have to s-stay up there!”  
Bon-bon was panicking. “No, no! The show can´t start with him up there! Baby, please do something!”  
“Do not worry, I have a plan.” Gracefully she posed with her hand up and pump up balloons, hundreds of them, as Freddy began to tie them together. In a matter of a minute, a giant bundle of balloons were floating inside of the room. Finally Freddy decided it was enough.  
“C-catch, you Bonnie-Impersonator!” He released the floating monstrosity, which wasted no time and quickly rose up. Dave stood up, stretched and jumped down into the rubbery goodness, magically not popping them all and breaking his neck. Instead he elegantly was lowered onto the ground, as he popped them playfully.  
“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, BOYS AND GIRLS! Welcome! Welcome to Circus Baby´s Pizza World! The FIRST amusement park of its kind!”  
Cheering was the answer.  
“WHAT? I DIDN`T HEAR YOU!”  
Some laughter was now mixed within the cheers. Dave´s grin was most certainly brighter than any of the lights.  
“BUT WAIT! What are we even cheering over? Why is this place so giant?”  
Funtime Freddy frowned confused. “B-b-but… didn´t you plan-plan-plan all of this? Why are YOU a-a-asking this?”  
“Freddy here will now explain all this and more!” Apparently Purple Guy ignored Freddy´s character break. Back to smiling Freddy turned and began to praise the different activities one could do here.  
Family, fun and food! The key components for a good experience!  
Baby swiftly took over explaining, since Freddy got stuck on the fun you could have inside of his attraction.  
Everyone´s eyes were glued onto the stage, Freddy´s faulty, whacky acting making him apparently likeable to the audience. Dave kept an eye on the situation, knowing that he soon should break in, giving some small fun facts. Exactly… NOW!  
“As many of you know, Freddy´s had hard times the last decade… THOSE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY OVER! Fazbear entertainment is back and more than ever determined to bring you the best that is currently possible! I and my partner, as the destined successors of the famous founders of this place, build a new generation of entertainment machines! As you can see, they are as human as can be!”  
“Wait, where is your partner anyway?” Baby pretended to be deeply confused.  
With that, Old Sport rushed onto the stage, smiling brightly. “Sorry, but has someone seen…?”  
Foxy jumped into him, tumbling over, wagging its tail.  
EVERYONE BEGAN TO SCREAM, AS EVERYONE´S FAVORITE ANIMATRONIC WAS FINALLY ON STAGE!  
Mike groaned to himself, before abruptly stopping as he noticed what Jerry-  
...and even self-proclaimed Foxy fan Old Sport had to admit that it was a tad exaggerated. But whatever, as long as the crowd was pleased…  
Instantly being the star of the show, Foxy jumped up and down, twirled and posed, cheerfully screeching.  
Dave held Orange Guy´s hand up. “This is my partner Old Sport! The co-creator of the animatronic and co-owner of this lovely place! With that we are all complete and the show can begin!”  
“NO! Isn´t there someone we´re forgetting?” Old Sport pointed upwards and all of a sudden Alice jumped on top of him and posed in a handstand on the finger.  
From everywhere more of them jumped onto Orange Guy posing and dancing, until they froze.  
“STEP BACK YOU FUCKING LUNATIC!” Mike had entered the stage, a dangerous glow in his eyes, his hands twitching.  
This was something not even Dave anticipated to happen, so for a split second, the smile was wiped from his face.  
Despite having promised himself to never get closer to those nightmares, those beings that made his head spin and fill his ears with whispers, melted, rotten, poisonous, yes, despite all of that, when he saw Jeremy climb up onto the stage, he simply had to act. He wouldn´t let that fuckwit die on his watch, no sir, especially since he was sure that with those machines there was some form of torture involved.  
Why was Jeremy like this?! Couldn´t he see?! Couldn´t anybody see?! Glued to the masquerade played on that stage, everyone smiled joyful as they watch their children´s demise being presented.  
But Jeremy wouldn´t be the first. He couldn´t be the first.  
No matter how idiotic, how retarded his brain was, Jerry had a kind heart and it wasn´t fair.  
Things that weren´t fair made Mike´s blood boil.  
“CAN`T YOU SEE THAT THEY ARE MONSTERS!?” Desperate the homicidal Guard stepped closer, as Jeremy confused and scared watch him.  
“M-mike, what are you talking about? They´re so cute…?”  
He could almost see the younger man being devoured by that Freddy abomination, who was towering over him. “Look at them! They will EAT you!”  
The monster began talking in its mind-tearing way. “H-h-hey now, young friend-friend-friend, how about we calm d-d-down?”  
Threatening it stepped up behind Jeremy, leaving Mike with no choice. “GET THE FUCK AWAY I SAID!”  
In one swift movement, Mike took out his heavy torch, attempting to break this fucking laughing face, yet before his arm was even halfway up, it faceplates had opened and Mike got grabbed in an iron grip. As he kicked the machine, it became ridiculously obvious that this THING was made to resist human attacks. Before he could make any more futile attempts, Foxy had grabbed onto his legs as well, rendering him almost completely defenseless.  
Bitterly he smiled, at least they wouldn´t be able to kill Jerry before him. His eyes wandered over-  
But there was no Jeremy.  
He had been alone on the stage, screaming at nothing.  
The boy was confused and alone in the crowd, the staring, greedy crowd, hundreds of cameras, clicking and flashing, reporters drooling about the potential headline.  
INSANE EMPLOYEE ATTACKING NEW MACHINES, CLAIMING THEY ARE DANGEROUS!  
PSYCHOTIC FIT AT FREDDY´S!  
Slight terror was pulsating through his veins.  
Those same empty eyes, whispering at the corners of his vision, entertainment hungry, empty minds, watching him, the one-man-freak show.  
At this point he really just wanted to be mauled to death by the animatronics. Ending it, before the doc would lock him back up.  
All of a sudden, Dave stepped forward, smiling confidently. “And THIS is why they are so big! Also, as this is merely the presentation, this time the police won´t be called, but rest assured, whenever someone violent will appear here, he will be immediately apprehended and handed over to the police. They are all perfectly equipped to protect children and deal with this kind of situation!”  
Click, click, click, the flashing wouldn´t stop and by tomorrow he would be known again, the psychopath, the freak, people will step back in horror, but draw closer in their morbid hunt for thrills.  
It all became weirdly drowned out, more like a hazy memory, as it all just was rinse and repeat at this point. He was fucking used to it by now, yet the thought of leaving this place still managed to give him a small sting.  
“Now, please, let´s all give a big hand to my friend and co-worker Mike Schmidt, who managed to put on a great performance! Thank you for helping me showing of this feature of my creations! And he said he was a bad actor, HA! Applause and thank you, my friend!”  
Happy Purple Guy applauded and quickly everyone followed his example, some laughing about being fooled this easily, some frowning as they didn´t like to be scared like this, or disappointed over the lack of sensational headline for their article. No matter the reaction, everyone believed what Dave said, without any hesitation.  
Finally freed from the mechanical claws, he stood back up, his face burning red out of anger over this humiliation that he brought about himself. Dave´s worried expression made it even worse, it was as if that fucking cancer was playing his dad.  
“Are you okay Mike?” Quietly he whispered to him, seemingly not caring that Mike had called him out. “If you don’t feel good, you should tell Phoney… he´ll keep you safe.”  
“I… I don´t need anyone to keep me SAFE!” Yet despite that, he also was keeping his voice down.  
“Hey, I´m just trying to help!”  
Thankfully Old Sport had taken over the show and given Ballora the signal.  
“Is it our turn yet?” Ballora´s soft voice echoed through the halls and as she stepped onto the stage a spotlight fixated on her. She bowed bashfully and smiled. “Welcome. I am the first to entertain you. My name is Ballora and my passion is dancing. May I show you my current performance?”  
Respectful the others left the stage, the last light turned off and all focus laid on the graceful ballerina, as a classical piece sounded in the background.  
Simon was at the exit of the stage, instantly taking Mike away from Dave.  
Old Sport couldn´t help but giggle, as he looked around. Everyone was entranced, giving him the perfect opportunity for his plans. “Dave, how long will the show be?”  
“Half an hour, afterwards they are invited to explore the place and watch the animatronic in their natural habitat!”  
“I have a really-”  
Suddenly Purple Guy hid behind him, avoiding the touch of a certain customer. His horrified expression told him all he needed to know. Somehow he had hoped that it would have stopped by now…  
“Should I-”  
“Let´s go outside, Sportsy. I just need some fresh air…”  
Silently they forced their way through the hundreds of people until they were finally free, under the almost warm rays of the sun. Deeply breathing in the warm air, which promised warmer days in the future. Dave laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.  
“Sorry about that Old Sport. I didn´t want to worry you, after all I know that the children will take care of it. Still… I hate those people. I feel sick…”  
“Come, let´s sit down here!” Friendly Old Sport dragged him over to the side of the building and they sat down on the smooth, warm, white stones. It was incredibly peaceful, only few cars drove by. The place was located quite far outside, not many people could come by on accident. There was a bus line though, so even people without cars could visit.  
It was nice and visibly Dave calmed down. Unsure if this was the right idea, but too curious to stop himself, Old Sport began to ask him a question he wanted to ask for a while now.  
“How did this whole maggot thing even start?”  
“Well, I guess… with mother.” Quickly Dave glanced at him, smiling sheepishly. “Not to confuse you, it may is statistically that the mother is most likely at fault for creating psychopaths, but that´s not it. Mom was a fine person, a bit strict, a bit cold, but whatever. I had to be thankful for even having a mom. Me being weird is something I´ve had since I was born… I simply was a bit… different. Hahaha, once in preschool, I kidnapped the first person that spoke with me. Took my mom and the school two days to find him in the basement!” Snickering he thought back of lighter days. “However, that´s irrelevant right now… the thing is, while my mom was fine as a person, she had a bit of a bad health and often had to stay in bed, sleeping. One day, she simply refused to answer me. No matter how hard I shook, she stayed… unmoving. Dead, I mean. You have to understand, as a boy, the concept of “dead” was a bit unclear to me… whenever I killed an animal, mom simply took it away and scolded me. Somehow, I began to believe that dead meant “somewhere else”, or rather that just because things didn´t move, it didn´t mean they weren´t alive. After all, plants were alive too, right? I dunno, I was a kid, don´t blame me.”  
“I´m not, honestly!”  
“Sorry, sorry, where was I…? Ah, okay, my mom stopped moving, which meant she stopped saying no to things, I fucking loved it. Pizza and ice cream, all week! Watching TV as long as I could keep my eyes open! Hell, I was even “allowed” to make a slingshot and hit squirrels and birds until they stopped moving as well! All mom technically had to do was saying “no”, but she wasn´t, so I was allowed!” With glittering eyes, Purple Guy resembled his younger self quite well. “As the grateful kid that I was at that time, I behaved and went to school, did my homework, went shopping, all those things. At first I made something for mom to eat, yet once she refused I simply told myself that she could cook for herself if she wanted to. The problems began when my teachers wanted to talk to her and began calling, but that took some time. When I came to her room, she smelled horrible… clearly it was because she wouldn´t shower, at least younger me thought that. Yet, as there were visitors on the door, ringing the bell again and again, I tried to wake her up once more. It was getting annoying how stubborn she was, so I went to the extreme, brought a knife and decided to poke her with it. One of those many dark spots on her skin were looking promising, but as I stuck the knife inside….”  
Shuddering Purple Guy hugged his knees, appearing pale. “You can imagine? Maybe it was just that I was a child, but I swear, those maggots were EVERYWHERE! Flies and other stuff began to fly around once I screamed, bugs crawled out from under her bed, it was… I…” He stopped talking for a short moment, staring into nothing. “That was the day I found out people could have bugs inside of their bodies. There´s no way in hell all of those insects came from somewhere else, after all, the rest of the house was clean! She had… I couldn´t…”  
Sympathetic Old Sport hugged him tightly. “Hush… everything is okay. You´re in a clean place, with pure people and none of those filthy bugs will ever be able to get in here… at least not for more than a minute.”  
Dave hugged him back and burrowed his face in the shoulder of his friend. “People scare me. They go to sleep without making sure nothing is crawling in their ears! They seemingly ignore any sign of infestation in other people and even let themselves be TOUCHED by those! Really, I´m just glad I don´t have to deal with those… I fucking hated it! Whenever a host came around, I had to clean the thing, it was disgusting!”  
“Didn´t you say killing is fun?”  
“Killing kids is fun! Even teens are great, but adults are just… filthy… adults always make me mad, one way or another.”  
Orange Guy couldn´t help but chuckle at his companion, maybe because he hadn´t any better reaction, maybe because it was fun to see him snuggle into him like an oversized kitten. “Don´t think about it anymore, they won´t ever get to you!”  
“You know… if you would get infected, I´d just give up and let them in as well.”  
“Dave! That won´t happen! Please, don´t be so depressed!”  
“But if I´m depressed, I get to squeeze you as much as I want!” Finally meeting Old Sport´s glance, he smiled slyly and satisfied, as his friend slowly got red.  
“I swear to god Dave, one day I´ll leave you alone until you apologize for every lie you ever told me!”  
“Ah, where was I lying, huh? Old Sport, I just shared something deeply personal! Don´t be so harsh! Instead, Old Sport, how about you tell me something as well?”  
“I… don´t really have anything to tell really.”  
“What? Stop lying, Old Sport! You went to school, didn´t you? There´s bound to be something interesting…”  
“Not really.” Now it was Old Sport´s turn to be slightly melancholic. “I don´t know about you, but I was born with these eyes. Not to mention that my skin was slightly more orange than everyone else´s… not as bad as today, but you know… so in preschool kids used to tease me a bit. Nothing major, some stupid nicknames, refusing to play with me, staring at me whenever I did something… compared to today it was nothing, I mean, I wasn´t raped or set on fire, apparently that´s what it means to be bullied today.”  
“Where did you get that impression?!”  
“Uh… never mind. Well, middle school and high school was the time I wanted to spend as normal as possible. I stopped doing… anything really. Tried to stay out of trouble, not giving any strong opinions, hanging around bigger groups as I wouldn´t have to talk as much. Honestly, it worked perfectly. No one minded me. People asked me for help when they couldn´t decide between two equal things. When there was a five people group, four friends would choose me to go along. Teachers marked me as absent when I was sitting right in front of them. Really, it was… relaxing.” His voice sounded empty and tired. “I´m sure no one remembers me. I´m sure no one remembered me. That… was what I thought when I was stuffed inside of that suit.”  
“What?”  
“I accepted the position as a Nightguard, got caught on Friday. So, I was dying inside of the suit a-and…” Nervously Orange Guy clutched his fist. “What I´m going to tell you is pretty bad… promise me you´ll give me a head start before you gut me?”  
“Stop talking bullshit! I wouldn´t hurt you!”  
“Aren´t you bad with rejection?”  
“Fine, except in that case. But… there´s nothing in this story that would mean REJECTING me, right?”  
“Christ… o-okay, here I go… I was stuffed and bleeding and just accepted the reality of being literally useless in the grand scheme of things… then Henry stepped in, carrying a corpse. Stuffed it, step over as I tried to beg for help… laughed. You know the story, he told you. What he didn´t know was that I… got a second chance. Fredbear began to talk to me. If I would promise to save them, he would give me life. All I could think about was wanting revenge on this man and leaving a mark on this earth, on everyone around me.”  
“And… you got your revenge on Henry.”  
“Yes. It wasn´t very satisfying though.” Nervous he watched the psychopath, but said man just smirked.  
“Now, now, that would disappoint him. He always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory…”  
“Fredbear himself came to get him, mission accomplished, I´d say.”  
“He had it coming. Whenever we killed someone all he said was “if he had been smarter, maybe he would be alive” and shrugged it off as survival of the fittest. I´m sure not even HE feels mad.”  
“Hm… I deep down want him to be a bit mad.”  
“Trust me, you wouldn´t. If he were mad, he´d find one way or another to make you… suffer…” Suddenly Dave seemed to remember something, as he grew pale again. “A-ah… oh god… hey, you worked with Fredbear?”  
“WorkED, yes. But soon enough I got sick of the repetition… and the loneliness. I couldn´t take it anymore, being left alone again and again, forced to wander this hellscape called earth alone. No matter how I acted, it felt as if it didn´t matter! Phone Guy resetted, again and again, not caring how much energy I spend trying to befriend him! Kids died, over and over, if I freed them or if I failed… That´s when we met.”  
“With perfect timing I see! You´d probably killed me somehow if you wouldn´t have been so crippling lonely!  
“Highly likely. Sorry…”  
“We do what we gotta do, right? I mean, if Henry would have been alive and said we should kill you when we first met, I´d probably ripped you open like an old Plushie!”  
“I guess it´s fair…”  
Silently they enjoyed each other’s company and the warmth of the sun. Dave shyly reached for Old Sport´s hand and smiled as he was accepted.  
“Sportsy… did I ever tell you about my first day at university?”  
Finally a softer expression crept onto the Orange Man´s face. “No, but you got me curious…”  
“Alright, here I go! I´ve always been weird like I´m now, so buckle up kiddo, it was an adventure! First day, I was late, couldn´t find my class. Five minutes passed and I got sick of searching, got out my slingshot, made sure no camera could spot me and sniped the shit out of the fire alarm. Bells go off, classrooms getting opened, I follow as sneaky as possible, until we´re finally outside. I go from crowd to crowd, asking where my professor is until I finally join my group, right as he asked “did I forget someone?” Ka-ching, jackpot, I act all insulted, pretend that I´ve been there since the beginning, embarrassing him and getting away with it! Good, no one has an idea who activated the fire alarm, but soon enough they send us back inside to a boring as fuck lesson.”  
“You pulled the fire alarm, just to find you lesson?”  
“Gotta get in somehow, am I right? Anyway, the lesson was so boring that I decided to upgrade my laser pointer. Lunch break starts, I decide to test how good it is. About three people set on fire, was great to watch them run and roll around like love-struck puppies, but then that pink-skinned weirdo comes up, is all like “M8 that´s illegal” but you know, in a fancy way, I tell that I don´t give a fuck, he tells me to aim at the planes. We quickly became friends. Last lesson is interesting as fuck, about AI and shit, so I go to the front and sit on my professors table to pay closer attention, people start whispering and he´s all like “What are you doing?” but can´t say anything when I tell him that everyone else is talking too much, which is proved by their whispers. Teacher shuts up, just staring, suddenly Henry stands up, offering me a place in the front row. Though I refused, as the place on the professor´s desk is so much better. Got both of them annoyed, until he almost threw me out. Decided that I´d rather would sit and at least try to listen, start to interrupt the old guy all five minutes with questions, but understanding it better and better.”  
Snickering he paused thinking back of old times. “I think most teacher hated me.”  
“Balls and biscuits, I would have hated you as teacher too. You sound like an obnoxious, entitled brat!”  
“I wasn´t! I swear, I was a VERY attentive and always participated in all activities. I was a star-student in all subjects that interested me!” Now he got a somewhat cheeky expression. “And if YOU would have been a teacher, I would have been INCREDIBLY interested in everything~”  
“Dave, you creep…”  
“Cut me some slack, I wanted to cheer you up. Did it work?”  
“Hm… somewhat. Thank you… but now I´ll have nightmares about going to school with you. I bet you´d bully me mercilessly!”  
“Never!” Shortly both paused, staring at each other. “Only if I think you´re into that stuff…!”  
“Why is my best and only friend a serial killer? My life is so goddamn screwed.”  
“Why is my best and only friend orange? My life is over!”  
“Why is my best and only friend half an eggplant? WHAT IS MY LIFE?”  
“Why is my best friend everything that matters in my life? I LOVE IT!”  
“W-why is… my best friend so devilish good at flirting and making me feel weird?! Admit, you´re a demon!”  
“No! I´m a unicorn, dummy!” Jokingly he imitated a horse and kept a finger on his forehead, managing to get Old Sport to snort.  
“I feel the odd impulse to insult you to overplay my feelings…”  
“You spend FAR too much time with Mikey. Really, you shouldn´t spend time with that ass. Or the phone. Or Jeremy.”  
“Try to stop me!” He leaned forward and smooched his cheek, before dashing off, laughing in victory. How weird. How weird that Dave actually managed to cheer him up. How weird that Dave actually cared about his smile. Despite them calling each other friends, somehow Old Sport had expected him to be far too much of a psychopath to actually care.  
As quickly as the loud masses would let him, he went over to the stage, where Baby and Friends were surrounded and quite literally interviewed. Funtime Freddy and Baby kept interrupting each other though, so not many questions would be answered.  
They´d probably be alright on their own…  
He spotted Jeremy, who had leaned onto the wall, crossing his arms in a pose more common with Mike. Apparently something had truthfully angered him.  
“Jeremo, my manero! What´s wrong?”  
“Ah… sorry…” His angered expression immediately vanished and was replaced with sorrow. “I´m just… Marion and I had a little fight.”  
Mentioned machine began to crawl out of the back, trying to be as unsuspicious as possible to the reporters.  
For some godforsaken reason he desires to talk to those…  
Marion shortly paused, remembering that both of the psychos identified themselves as “Fathers” to those creatures.  
… Machines. Admit, it is unhealthy to spend time with them!  
“Depends on your definition of unhealthy. They are pretty nice, I´m sure they and Jeremy will make great friends!”  
You cannot make friends with broken souls!  
“He´s friends with you, isn´t he?”  
Low blow, orange face!  
Jeremy giggled a little. “Thank you, but you didn´t had to be this mean… Sorry Marion. You have to understand, I really, REALLY want to make more friends, especially with my new co-workers!”  
Something itched in the back of Old Sport´s mind. “Hey… Jeremy…”  
“Yes?”  
“Aren´t you afraid of them?”  
“No! Why should I? They have no reason to hurt me at day!”  
“And at night?”  
“I guess I´d be a bit scared… but I don´t blame them, I´m sure they have their reason!”  
“… so you want to get to know them…”  
Laughing awkwardly, he played with his fingers. “U-uh… it sounds silly, since they´re probably just robots…”  
“Probably?”  
“Well, there might be children stuffed inside.”  
“Doesn´t that bother you?!”  
“… If that is the case, and there´s a big IF, then it doesn´t help isolating them. Children need lots of love! And I´m sure… WHOEVER did this had a reason as well. But I won´t just believe what I´m told without any proof!”  
WITHOUT ANY PROOF? JUST LOOK AT HIM! HE`S A PSYCHO!  
“I don´t think he looks like a psycho and he´s very nice to both of us. Even IF, once more, what could I do? Since he hasn´t done anything bad while I was around, the best option is to stay close and friendly with them, so they don´t even have an opportunity to do anything bad!”  
You can NOT act as if serial killer aren´t a big deal! You´re… crazy!  
“Please… Marion… not again…”  
The Puppet hid his face in his hands, helplessly shaking his head.  
I just… don´t know what to do with you.  
“I´m an adult, Marion. Similar to you, I can make my own decisions.”  
Surprised Orange Guy noticed the firm tone Jeremy had. “Didn´t know you´re actually able to form your own opinion!”  
Before Jeremy could say anything, Marion rose from the ground truly aggressively.  
He doesn´t know what is good for him, but I´ll set his head straight.  
“Geez, boi, you´re reactivating ALL my daddy issues!” Not really joking Old Sport raised an eyebrow.  
This...!  
“Marion… you´re not really believing in me, are you?”  
I KNOW MORE THAN YOU, JEREMY! YOU DON`T KNOW WHAT YOU`RE DOING!  
Jeremy hugged himself, tearing up.  
“Poppet, how about you-” But before the colorful Guard could come up with a good argument, Jeremy had already caved in.  
“Please Marion. I want new friends. I want to get to know the new animatronics. Please, please, please… don´t be mad…”  
Apparently it finally gotten through Marionette´s thick skull what he was doing. Softly he wrapped himself around his human friend.  
Promise me you won´t get close to them without me. I´m sorry I was this harsh, but the situation is dangerous beyond your comprehension.  
Old Sport didn´t really felt comfortable around those weird people, right now he´d almost be rather around Matt and his freaky smile. “Okay, my Stockholm homies, I´ll be off to places where people actually care about each other!”  
What are you implying-  
And in a second Orange Guy was off towards the middle of the crowd again, where Funtime Freddy had begun to recite his favorite puns.  
“You know, the m-m-m-morning is the best time of the day-d-day, it has breakfast! For, for, for e-example, om-omelet! T-that always gets-s-s me… EGGScited!”  
Proud of his spiritual son, Old Sport joined the conversation. “Well, this pun quality was to be EGGSpected from someone like you!”  
“C-can´t beat the m-master though! Good to-good to s-s-see you here!”  
“How about you get into your place? I´m sure people would like to see it when you´re there!”  
“A-alright! Bon-bon, let´s-s-s-s show them o-our home! We could go and play-play-play hide and s-s-seeeeek! I´m pretty good-good-good at finding p-people!” They all laughed together, even if a view adults had a weird expression.  
“OLD SPORT! DON’T RUN AWAY LIKE THIS!”  
“Dave! Let´s watch Freddy scare the shit out of people!” Excited Old Sport jumped up and down, motivated to see his kid in action, glowing like a disco ball.  
It wasn´t even worth ruining this good mood by pretending to be insulted. “Alright, but I bet I´ll manage to scare more people!”  
Giggling Old Sport dragged him along. “If you want to challenge someone, challenge me! I´ll beat you so hard, you´ll cry!”  
“Baby don´t hurt me~”  
“Don´t hurt me~”  
“No more!“  
Alice silently groaned in the pocket. Why were her parents such weirdos?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, like a warned, less updates… but no worries I guess! I’m just a bit tired lately… anyway, I hope you enjoyed!  
> The next chapter is already finished (of course), but now I´m somewhat stuck with the following chapter… because I´m not sure what you want. Would you like some more random banter and g00d times with Guards and Animatronics being f0cking n00bs?  
> Or are you already like: “Lucario, these are 23 Chapters already with FAR TOO MANY words, how about you get it over already and finish this damn mess of a story!”  
> Both is fine by me… and even if you ask me to finish it would probably still take about 6 Chapters, since… well, it´s a very convoluted story ^^”  
> Tell me what you want and I promise it will be done!


	24. A daily day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A routine begins to form, as everyone gets comfortable with their new roles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the chapter! :3

The clocks goes tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…   
Ethan glanced at it, asking himself why he kept it inside of his flat. He deeply hated this sound, it drove him crazy.   
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…   
It had been almost fifteen years since he lost his daughter. They told him it would get better with time, yet time only made it worse. It felt as if every second the poison spread wider through his body, despite it overtaking every single cell already. With every tick the poison became more potent, with every tock it killed another piece he didn´t knew he still had.   
Tick tock.   
Slowly he rose from his couch, finally giving up completely on sleeping and stepped towards the wall. In his head he always called it THE wall, as it was the only wall on this whole world that still mattered to him. It was where he had gathered and kept all the things he believed to be fishy about the cursed restaurant. It was mostly what he could find himself, as his old co-workers denied him accesses to the files that the police was checking up on.   
Sometimes… when he had a very bad day… he could swear they were on board with the mass killing going on.   
He had stopped sharing his information with them, due to that suspicion… not that they would care. For them he was a nothing but a crazy, conspiracy spouting fool.   
But that was fine. The police hasn´t done anything for him anyway.   
Stepping closer, he let his hand trail over the newest article on said wall.   
YES, BABY! FREDDY FAZBENDER´S UNBELIEVABLE COMEBACK! – New Amusement park staffed by new animatronics opened -   
Those headlines made him barf, but that wasn´t the focus point for him anyway. The article featured a rather well-shot picture of the new owner, Dave Miller. Slowly he got another pin out and connected this picture with the hundred others of a purple guy he had hanging on the wall. Whenever he met them, they always acted different. Some annoyed, some friendly, some made jokes and some were almost completely apathetic. At first he was sure he had found his killer and directly got the police to kick down his door. Rushing in, he planned to kill that animal that had taken so many innocent lives, yet as he came to the bedroom… his corpse was lying on the bed, a giant hole inside it and in his hand he held the gun.   
The man was dead, without any doubt.   
It couldn´t have been him. The monster behind these deaths wouldn´t disappear this easily, he had known it.   
When he came back, three months after the incident, he was somewhat… relieved that it still was Scott Cawthon who greeted him. It was good to see that the friendly man could keep his job after what happened at the last location.   
But then the fucking purple guy entered the room and smiled. Not the purple guy, A purple guy. One of many as he learned over the years… just like Scott Cawthon seemed to… repeat. First he suspected that he was going insane, until one of his friends explained the special surgery people at Freddy´s had accesses to… yet it only rose more questions. How could the Phone head always respond to “Scott Cawthon” even though he had seen his clearly MANGLED corpse and the body was the important part to stay alive…?   
Once more he tipped against a photo of the head-guard.   
1M0A0S1S0P1R1O1D0U1C0E1D0  
Jumping around, the officer almost automatically grabbed for his gun, but it was only the dog. The hell beast he had picked up from the streets… well not exactly, it had begun to follow him ever since a year or so…   
When he first had seen that monster, he was a second away from shooting it anyway. Its dark purple fur reminded him of the man he had first assumed to be the killer. Its black eyes filled him with dread whenever he was so unfortunate to meet its eyes. Yet, he decided not to harm the creature just for a simple resemblance it could do nothing about.   
The same rhetoric he used for the purple guys as well. Unlike its human counterpart though, the dog began to follow him home and refused to leave his side. Sometimes it disappeared, just to reappear mere minutes later out of a room he could have sworn to have searched in already…  
It didn´t really bark… or at least its bark sounded off. There were multiple sounds in there that almost appeared like a voice… but that was simply impossible.   
“Are you hungry?” Helpless he tried to evade the empty stare of the creature. It didn´t even wag its tail. “Alright then…”   
Having said that more to himself then to the animal, he returned to his wall. Those two… humans… faces… people kept popping up. After finding out about the surgery, he began checking every Freddy´s in the surrounding areas and YES, every single one had a similar Phone Guy inside. Sometimes they had other phones on their head and sometimes they wore different clothing… but they responded roughly the same.   
There was something deeply wrong with this place. He wasn´t a spiritual person and he didn´t believed in lingering spirits, at least not in those who could change anything on earth, but sometimes… sometimes he actually wanted to believe that there was something supernatural going on.   
It would be a nice copout. It would give him the pass to give up.   
But for his daughter he needed to stay reasonable. For her he needed to go on. His little girl…   
Again he closed his eyes, trying not to cry this day.   
He wasn´t even strong enough to think her name.   
Concentrate, Ethan, keep your mind at the task.   
Determined he raised his head again and sat down at the table that was directly next to the wall. There were only four different pieces of furniture inside of the small flat: the table, covered with papers, the chair he used when he was working on it, a closet for clothing and the couch where he slept- or rather, where he laid for a few hours before jumping back up and restlessly pacing back and forth inside of the room.   
Once more, with feeling. There were ALWAYS at least three people who regularly died at the locations. Two mass-produced (wait, that wasn´t what he thought before, this thought didn´t belong here, it wasn´t HIS-) creatures, one a phone, one purple and one… employee. They had all kind of faces, they had all kind of names and for one reason or another… they wouldn´t return. Quickly he skimmed the list he almost knew like the back of his hand.   
Dead (Springlocks), dead (poison), prison, dead, disappeared, prison, dead, dead (Suicide), dead (Sp.L.), dead (poison), prison, disappeared, dead-   
It went on and on. There was always that one employee that tried to tell them something, spout nonsense and then… being not there for further questioning.   
Mike Schmidt seemed to be the next one in line, yet he had survived quite a long time… the restaurant in general had stayed open for quite a long time. What was going on inside of the place?   
The place itself was a labyrinth, even if everyone pretended to not see it. Getting lost, away from cameras and guards would be incredibly easy…   
H. H. Holmes, build a hotel of death… coincidently exactly a century ago. Yes, one of the most fearsome Serial Killers designed a whole place to torture and kill young women in the cruelest ways possible. If Ethan would believe in the supernatural, he probably think that history was repeating itself and this purple guy was the reincarnation of the psychopath.   
A movement next to his leg made him jerk back, but it was only the dog who had taken place next to the table.   
“There, there, boy, I need to focus…” Muttering under his breath, he returned to a picture of Mike he had made. Everything inside of the new restaurant had been documented, the employees were no exception.   
Apparently the mental stability of the employee was quickly deteriorating. Not only was he carrying an umbrella without any reasonable explanation, watched his silent phone as if there was anything on the screen and now the breakdown right on stage…? Now, that wasn´t fake. Ethan had seen his unfair share of mental breakdowns and he knew the subtle differences between reality and theater. Mike Schmidt feared and hated the animatronics with deep conviction and whoever he THOUGHT he was screaming at, he believed from the bottom of his heart that the person was in danger.   
Maybe… he should watch the man for a while. He knew more than he let on, or at least was able to convey.   
Also, it might be a way to protect this guard, after all his predecessors weren´t as durable and would get taken out of this world frequently. If there had been enough of ONE thing, then of dead people. No more dead people… except the disease-ridden demon in human skin that haunted this chain for such a long time.   
Silently he let out all the air inside of his lungs, waiting a few seconds playing with the dream of suffocating, before greedily sucking the air in through his teeth, enjoying the slight burning sensation that it created.   
Five children HAD disappeared again. Not inside of Freddy´s, no, but it were FIVE. FIVE children ALWAYS disappeared! It was…   
It was ridiculous and he knew it. It wasn´t as if he didn´t know why exactly he had been kicked out of the police force.   
It scraped on the back of his mind. Everything scraped at his mind at this point. A serial killer was hunting this city, maybe even two at this point, after all there were those mangled corpses appearing now and again. Though… whenever the Jekyll Monster appeared in a city, children would get lost shortly before or after the incident.   
Shuffling through some other papers, he once more crosschecked the dates of found bodies and disappearances. If the Jekyll Monster was changing place, just as the child kidnapper changed places… seeing as…   
The Jekyll Monster was a weird murderer in the first place. He wasn´t categorized in organized and unorganized as most serial killer, but rather started off disorganized, as the kill was mostly random with a quick knife to the throat. Then, suddenly, the killer began changing his behavior, CLEANING the corpse, earning him the name of the fictional, two minded doctor. Was it a sort of ritual? Was some sort of psychosis forcing him to do it? Was it a form of telling the world that he was the culprit? Then again, the killer wasn´t particularly keen on sharing the news of his new crime, yet he didn´t hid the body either.   
They were fairly sure the serial killer was male, despite the victims giving no certain typical underlying psychological motive for any gender. It came down to the statistically probability in the end, combined with the fact that the culprit was able to overpower the most different types of people.   
The mascot kidnapper followed a weirdly similar pattern. The probably male culprit, even if that was even more of a guess than in the case of the Jekyll monster, kidnapped children, on different places yet in the same pattern and despite always doing the same, he managed to be organized enough to never get caught.   
But they wouldn´t listen to him.   
Understandably.   
The Jekyll monster was targeting adults, while the mascot killer only abducted children to the age of ten, being the reason why the current investigation wasn´t treating the disappearances of those five children as part of the continuous kidnapping-spree, after all they were between twelve and fourteen, not his usual target.   
He wasn´t a fool.   
Freddy´s ate the people who entered. Humans died, the chain stayed alive.   
But that was absurd.   
Tired he almost slammed his head onto the table. His dog stared back up at him, imploring him to continue.   
Yes, those theories might be a stretch, but his intuition was telling him that without a doubt there has been a connection he wasn´t seeing yet. The way the Jekyll monster and the mascot killer acted… even if they WEREN`T the same person, they… followed each other. It might be two, working together? A terrifying thought.   
Yet, it was too unlikely for a serial killer team up that consists out of two this similar mindsets… and for both to kill their victim together the targets were too different.   
After twenty years, they STILL hadn´t any facts! Every lead either ended in another corpse or just wasn´t reasonable.   
Quickly he snatched the pictures he made of the new amusement park. There was a fortune invested in this and it was the perfect opportunity to finally finish the place of for good. No matter what the truth was, the psychopath was connected to the restaurant and shutting it down might be the only way to lure him out into the open.   
Or them.   
Shutting this restaurant down shouldn´t be too hard… gas leaks and faulty wiring…   
That would be illegal.   
Another moment he pondered.   
He needed more time… and more information.   
The four animatronics were a good place to start, as there was something most certainly off with them. One by one he would need to note his observations down, before deciding on what to do. Ballora was the animatronic that has caught his eye in as she was the most unsuspicious one of those machines and that could only be a bad sign.   
Seriously, without a doubt, every machine was freaky, but Ballora seemed to have nothing go against her, except her… questionable… design.   
If he remembered correctly, she stayed in her auditorium and danced. The children were free to join her on the stage or she would come down from there to interact with the shy kids.   
…   
Ballora never opened her eyes for the visitors. Whenever she looked at them, her whole body wanted to shut down at those inept children who managed to distort a beautiful dance into weird flailing. It was an insult to everything she stood for and so much more…   
Sighing she danced her sorrow away, trying to be as kind as possible to those creatures pestering her sanctuary. They weren´t at fault for being this dumb.   
As usual, after she felt satisfied with her dance she climbed down the stage, immediately surrounded by children telling her how much they wanted to be like her and how much they liked to dance as well. How could one be friends with those creatures?   
“Thank you for your compliments my children. With time and patience, you´ll surely be able to master this art sooner or later.”   
Again they all opened their mouth holes and spewed meaningless noise, distracting from the soothing music she had been enjoying before. For goodness sake… she clapped her hands. “Okay everyone, would you fancy being taught a few noteworthy shortcuts towards learning to dance?”   
Yes, it might sounded silly, but she was a ballerina now and had to keep up a positive stereotype. She had to show that she knew how to express herself!   
Confused the children cheered and she began with her routinely instructions. Straight back, deep breaths, tension throughout the whole body…   
“EVERYONE GET DOWN OR YOU`LL BE SHOT! IN THE NAME OF CANDY, YOU`LL STOP RIGHT NOW!”   
The legs don´t need to be too tense, as it would be too artificial and uncomfortable…   
“HEY, ANIMATRONIC-THINGY! YOU TOO! DON`T MAKE ME DO HORRIBLE THINGS TO MY HOSTAGES!”   
The other foot should be as light and somewhat bouncy to give the beloved impression as if dancing was more of an expression than real work…   
“ARE YOU EVEN FUCKING LISTENING?! SHOULD I SHOOT THE KID?”   
“Would you mind being silent? I can´t hear the music…”   
“I`M COMING OVER THERE AND FUCKING DISMANTLE YOU! YOU`LL BE PART OF THE GLORIOUS CANDY SUPER-SOLDIERS!”   
“Whatever you please…” Was it worth opening her eyes?   
Really, this happened far too often for her to really care. Why did the terrorist always come in here first?   
Keeping on with her dance, she ignored the shots and screams going on around her, after all it would end in a few minutes anyway. One more twirl, one last jump, the melody filled the air, finally screams gave way to silence, returning the wonderful music. Happiness fueled her movements to become even more passionate than before and before she knew, her battery was drained. Dammit.   
Nonchalantly she stepped over the beaten up body of a man in a Candy costume. Typical Saturday morning.   
Almost feeling satisfied she entered into the main hall, shyly trying to avoid the curious eyes of the other customers. Silently she sneaked out to get towards the parts and services room without being watched.   
On her way she found Funtime Foxy who seemed to be stuck inside of the fence. The creature screeched helplessly, begging and whining to be released. Shortly she opened one of her eyes, just to open them wide in complete surprise.   
The poor creature had been… decorated?   
No, it was wearing a… wedding dress?   
It wasn´t stuck in the fence, it was surrounded by people! There was a wedding going on!   
Foxy whined once more helplessly. It didn´t mind being decorated with bows and glitter and it loved to fight and struggle against the other kids, so whatever they called it, it didn´t feel insulted, or really cared, actually. A fox was a fox after all.   
But a dress was really too much! It was scratching and annoying!   
The guy next to Foxy was crying tears of joy. He had asked the animatronic of his dreams to marry him and its dead, soulless eyes were all the answer he ever needed. After shooting it down with a stun-gun and putting it in a dress made out of the mold growing on the pizza of Freddy´s, he called all his friends for a Freddy´s style wedding.   
Neat, right?   
Well, it took quite a few million years to complete that dress, A for effort, F for concept.   
Needless to say, Funtime Foxy didn´t like the situation. To stop any yiffings to happen, Dave had said that whoever managed to marry said fox would get to take it home and yiff if without any legal consequences, so seeing people jump at the opportunity was pretty common.   
Ballora sighed, not feeling the need to take care of her… acquaintance. It would be perfectly fine on its own, as far as she was concerned.   
Once more it whined at her, making her stop and take a serious look with closed eyes at the helpless thing. “Listen, Foxy. This is the twentieth time this has happened to you. Do you see this?”   
She stretched her leg towards the crowd. “This is PERFECTION. And perfection needs to be maintained. Learn to handle your mishaps on your own.”   
With that she turned around, keeping on her way towards the charging room. The angry stomping in the distance made it clear that… “Help” was on the way for Foxy.   
It indeed was! Mike stormed towards the illegal wedding, burning anger flooding his veins, he was sick of this SHIT! HOW MANY PEOPLE WANT TO MARRY A FUCKING PLASTIC FOX?!   
“HEY! YOU GUYS, STOP WITH THAT SHIT!”   
The groom turned around, deeply hurt. “This is LOVE! You can´t stop me! It is simply too strong!”   
“You´re right, nothing is stronger than love! EXCEPT A FUCKING TORCH THAT CAN BE USED AS A TRUNCHEON!” Quickly he slipped out his make-shift weapon out of his pocket, expanded it and gave them half a second head start before beating down on everyone and everything too close to him. Needless to say that he successfully cleared the area in under two minutes and felt satisfied, until Phone Guy came up, flailing his arms.   
“WHAT THE HECK, MIKE? ARE YOU INSANE?! I mean, you obviously are, but… YOU CAN`T BEAT DOWN SOMEONE WHO CAN`T FIGHT BACK!”   
“If the police can, so do I!”   
“Mike, what the holy- NO. You´re NOT the police! You get PAID by those people!”   
“So does the police technically! And I dealt with the situation, so be thankful!”   
“WE`RE GOING TO GET SUED AGAIN!”   
“FUCK THAT! IF HE DOES, WE`LL KILL HIM!”   
“NO MIKE! WE CAN`T KILL PEOPLE!”   
“TELL THAT DAVE!”   
“I DO EVERY OTHER DAY!”   
Heated they both stared at each other, before they heard another little whine. Foxy was cowering on the ground, disliking this loud dispute. Both of the humans stepped back, knowing that Foxy wasn´t as harmless as it pretended to be. Once they had to piece one yiffer together again, after he annoyed the fox too much… he was approximately in twenty pieces hidden all over the artificial jungle Foxy inhabited. After Old Sport had the brilliant idea to tell the kids that they would get prizes if they managed to find a piece and bring it to them, they quickly managed to uncover all parts before they began rotting.   
Together they decided that it would be a far better idea to leave the animatronic alone before someone would get hurt again. Using this opportunity to escape any kind of consequences, Mike sneaked off towards the corridors. Maybe it was a little bit calmer around here-   
Oh no.   
Funtime Freddy.   
OH NO.   
The giant psychopathic machine did nothing other than walking past him though, making the Guard sigh in relief. Today was not the right day to-   
Another Funtime Freddy walked past him.   
FUCK NO.   
He was hallucinating again.   
G R E A T.  
He had run out of those shitty pills as well, so there was nothing he could really do, except sitting back, relax and drink some bleach. Professionally he ignored it as more and more Freddy´s filled the area around him and got out his brand new bottle of bleach out of his pocket. It was even a new flavor!   
Patient he watched the Freddys taking up more and more space but not actually doing anything. A sip from the lid that he used as glass showed that the bleach was top quality as well and he would probably pass out after about four lids. Until then, he should enjoy the show!   
Or not, Simon was coming towards him.   
OR WAS HE!?   
Who knew at this fucking point.   
“Mike?! W-where do all these Freddys come from?!”   
“Wait, you´re seeing them too?! They´re real?! FUCK!”   
Simon´s glance wandered towards the bottle of bleach and he suddenly dropkicked it right out of Mike´s hand. “MIKE, FOR GOD`S SAKE, STOP KILLING YOURSELF!”   
“YOU CAN`T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”   
“I CAN, I`M THE ADULT!”   
“I`M AN ADULT AS WELL!”   
“OBVIOULSY NOT!”   
“STOP SCREAMING AT ME! ALSO, YOU WANTED TO KILL YOURSELF FIRST!”   
“AND YOU INTERRUPTED ME! AND YOU`RE THE ONE WHO SCREAMS MORE!”   
“BECAUSE YOU SHOULDN`T KILL YOURSELF!”   
“THEN NEITHER CAN YOU!”   
One of the Freddys stepped closer, appearing tired and sad. “You´re b-being very loud. Please, if-if-if you could… y-y-you know…”   
Irritated they both watched the machine as it slowly went away again, completely depressed. Phone Guy was deeply distressed. “Go and find out what the he---ck is going on with those Freddys and where they are coming from! I´ll search for Dave… he´ll know what the f-heck is happening. Or at least after I cut off his fingers he will.”   
“Wow, that´s one way to get what you want…”   
“It´s called being assertive, Mike, maybe one day you´ll understand.”   
“What the fuck is wrong with you today?”   
“I just was dropkicked by ten toddlers, had a seven minutes discussion if I´m an animatronic or not and feel generally pretty bad. Now get moving, I gave you the easier task after all!”   
“Geez… fucking hell, I´m on it!”   
Sighing he bolted back towards the corridors and managed to squeeze himself past a group of quietly talking Funtime Freddy clones, who were blocking most of the way. Past that he found out that the constant stream of Freddys came out of the mirror maze… of course it came out of the fucking mirror maze. The mirror maze was cancer and now he would have to run around in there for half an hour.   
THANKS SIMON FOR THE FUCKING “EASY” TASK, REALLY GREAT!   
Once he entered the place, he saw his own face and wanted to swear. This would be fucking great. He watched the ground, trying to ignore his endless mirror images, really not in the mood to have to stare at his own face. Speaking of faces, once he found the fucking bear, he might just bash his face in...   
Following the stream, he thankfully didn´t have to search too much before he heard the maniacally laughter of the intentionally broken machine.   
Peeking around the final corner, he saw Funtime Freddy in front a mirror that was hooked up to an odd appearing machine, which was making a fucking lot of noise. It was actually amazing that the bear was able to over scream that shit.   
“Freddy, what the fuck are you doing?”   
“I´m c-c-cloning myself! We could- we could- we could take over the W-W-WORLD!”   
“Could you, like… stop?”   
“N-no!”   
“You know that you´re using a mirror to clone yourself, right?”   
“Y-yeah, pretty smart-smart, isn´t it? F-fathers time-t-t-travel machine was very-very usef-f-ful! It-t cre-created a RIFT!”   
“You know that your character gets mirrored as well?”   
“What-t?”   
“They´re all depressed and silent. Good fucking job, retard.”   
Distraught the machines looked back and forth between the human and the mirror, not believing what he just heard. “Are you-you kidding m-me?! How am I- I- s-supposed to take-take over the w-world with THAT?”   
“Should have used your empty fucking head.”   
Outraged Freddy grabbed one of his clones, shaking him. “Y-you want-t-t to kill s-some kids w-with me, right-right?!”   
Mike snapped up at that blatant confession, but the other Freddy already answered with his monotone voice. “I d-don´t think that´s a g-good idea. Why-why-why would I want to k-kill kids? They haven´t done-ne anything to us. A-also, it would be-e-e far too ex-exhausting.”   
Disturbed by his own creation, Funtime Freddy stepped back and turned towards Mike. “G-guard! We-we-we have to s-stop them!”   
“We?”   
“Y-yeah! You´re-e-e the Guard, you have to- have to- have to h-help me!”   
“No, I fucking don´t. This is your fault, I won´t do a single thing for an asshat like you!”   
“B-but… think a-about the-the children?”   
“Fuck them too! All brats anyway!”   
“So, do Y-YOU wanna slay kidden-s-s with me?” Hopeful the bear tilted his head, but his handpuppet shook his head. “Freddy, can I finally speak again? I told you already-”   
“NO! FOR FUCK´S SAKE, WHY DO YOU EVEN WANT TO KILL KIDS?!”   
But for some reason Funtime Freddy pretended to hear nothing and rather returned to the machine, scratching his chin. “B-bon-bon, how do you put-put it back off-f-f-f?”   
“Gee, Freddy, I don´t know! How about we try to find out together?”   
But before the squeaking abomination could continue to torment Mike´s ears, Freddy began to laugh. “What a GREAT i-idea!”   
Then he used the handpuppet and his fist to bash in the machine, until it was nothing more than a piece of scrap. Satisfied he chuckled his glitching chuckle. “T-time machines o-only make-make-make continuity-y-y harder-r anyway! T-this will be-e for the best-t in the long-longshot.”   
“Did you just…”   
Bonbon rubbed its paining head, pretending not to start to cry at any minute. “Yep, he totally did! It´s very rude to break any kind of walls, don´t you know that Freddy? And now we are down to zero time machines as well!”   
“Shut u-up, Bonbon, it´s-s not like you h-had a better-better-better idea anyway-y!” Insulted the bear pouted. Mike just wanted back to his bleach.   
“Guys, what about the endless clones out there?”   
“A-a-ah! Riiiiight! I´m-m gonna take c-care of it!” He raised his left fist and it slowly got sucked back into his arm, exchanging it for apparently a bazooka. “IT`S-S HUNTING T-TIME!”   
The Guard watched him run off and decided that he deserved a break or something. Maybe in twenty minutes it would all magically disappear or something. Just… ignore the explosions in the back.   
Ignore it, it was their decision to come into the restaurant today. Nope, no guilt here!   
A few explosion later, Mike couldn´t sit back anymore and left towards the main hall, silently begging the unloving void to swallow him whole before he stepped through that door.   
No such luck and the Guard was greeted with screaming people and more explosions, with animatronic-parts scattered everywhere, flying around and probably killing more humans than the explosions themselves.   
At least the animatronic-clones weren´t fighting back and creating more havoc with that, though it was somewhat depressing to watch so many machines apathetic waiting for their end. Silently Mike sneaked up towards the monster, who was currently brandishing a water canon that apparently electrocuted the machines.   
Freddy was pretty cruel when he wanted to be. Or maybe he just didn´t give a shit, honestly.   
“Funtime Freddy, stop making things explode, hell, what are you getting out of this anyway?!”   
“Will y-you go on a d-date with-with-with me in that c-case?”   
“WHAT THE FUCK?”   
“Alrighty-y-y then!” The animatronic stopped it´s shooting spree and hovered over the more then terrified- well, rather disturbed Guard. “It´s a deal-deal-deal!”   
“NO. KILL EVERYONE IN THIS RESTAURANT BUT-”  
“Mike? Funtime Freddy? What is going on?! I have left for less than three minutes!” Simon closed in, obviously rather angry. “Both of you, you should be ashamed! We´re not even open for a few days and already you´re both becoming lawsuit material!”   
“S-sorry, boss, but-but-but I gotta get Mike to con-confess to me SOME-H-HOW!”   
“Confess?”   
“HE`S TALKING SHIT! SIMON, YOU ARE THE BOSS, TELL HIM TO STOP!”   
“You´d have to file A LOT of documents, too many actually. I´ve tried many times… I mean, many versions of me tried many times in hopes of to getting Dave to back off.”   
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”   
“Cheer up, Mike, how can he force you on a date anyway? Just ignore him and you´ll be… I would say fine, but most likely you will be killed in one or the other way, just as I have been.”   
“I fucking wish I could be killed, but not even that they give to me…”   
“We´ve all been there.”   
Freddy pouted. “B-Bon-bon, t-they ignore me-me-me!”   
“And why could that be, Freddy?”   
“I d-don´t know! I did A-ABSOLUT-T-TELY NOTHING-NOTHING wrong-g!”   
“Then how about we ask them, Freddy?”   
Before anything could happen, Mike dashed off again, escaping this fucked situation. He was far too- never mind, he wasn´t having any time for that! Simon would be able to deal with it… probably…?   
Now he was standing again, torn apart between going back and keeping his friend safe or leaving this wretched place.   
Simon could handle-   
Fucking whatever.   
He turned around, sighing in defeat at his own weakness. One day he would die and he couldn´t fucking wait for it.   
A giggle almost distracted him, but he knew better than feeding her attention. Baby was hanging around closely, staring him down in hopes of getting some stupid reaction out of him. Out of all of them, she was the one that made him the most nervous. Yeah, Funtime Freddy was a damn psycho and loved to hurt people, but Baby was far more intelligent. A bit like Alice, but Alice was at least small and relatively harmless.   
The clown-girl watched her favorite victim run off twice as quickly as before, laughing even harder. Every Guard here was a precious addition to their family, but they all had their certain perks. Mike was fun to annoy and had the best reactions, Jeremy was lovely and attentive whenever he was around and Phone Guy was, despite her having a bad impression of him before, really responsible and great for discussing plans and concepts.   
It felt good to be here. It felt good to be alive.   
Shortly Baby closed her eyes, going mentally through her schedule. The first two shows were finished, she had a bit down time… the kids were keeping their distance right now, even if they tend to follow her around.   
“H-hey, Baby!” Jeremy ran up to her, smiling shyly. The presence inside of his backpack was surprisingly calm as well, giving a rare opportunity to fully enjoy her time with the youngest Guard.   
“Jeremy! What a nice surprise! What do have there?”   
“Oh, don´t worry about it, they are just a few concepts I came up with!”   
“Concepts? About what?”   
“I… well… don´t laugh, okay? Promise me!”   
“Why would I laugh?” She couldn´t help but snicker at this amount of insecurity.   
“You´re already laughing!” He tried to assume a whining tone, but in his voice there was laughter as well. Excited he opened a few papers showing off some sweet, childish drawings. “Anyway, here´s what I thought about… how about… DAILY GIANT MEGA SHOWS WITH EVERY CHARACTER!”   
“How are we going to pull that off, dear Jeremy? We have to watch over the children in the other rooms.”   
“Can´t we… just close the other places for an hour…?” Now he was really whining.   
“You just want to see us all on the stage together, don´t you?”   
“Yeah… but it would be amazing!” Jeremy looked at her with a begging expression, even his question mark was somewhat wobbling.   
Smiling Baby was shaking her head at that. “It is a nice idea anyway… maybe, after hours, if you stay late, we could make a show for ourselves? And hey… maybe you can even join us then!”   
It made her satisfied to see the backpack struggle a little, the being inside obviously noticing what she was referring to. Though, why being this riled up?   
If she did what she was thinking about, the only thing changing would be that he would be immortal and more colorful… what would be there to complain about?   
People were weird.   
Jeremy felt the movement inside of his backpack as well and blushed slightly out of embarrassment. “U-uh… Sorry, I have to go… I talk to you later, alright? About the staying late thing?”   
“I am looking forward to it! Have fun, dear~” Feeling generally happy, she watched him run off, his lips muttering something she wasn´t able to catch anymore.   
Slight jealousy got hold of her, as she thought about how good friends Jeremy and his constant companion were. One day she also wanted to have someone who never left her side.   
Again she closed her eyes, going through her schedule. Potentially she could go over to Ballora, helping her out on a small play…   
Oh, never mind, she just passed her. Ballora was heading for the parts and services room, so that option was dead. Foxy was far too engrossed in its own thing, going over there would do nothing but irritate everyone (also its playstyle was too rough anyway, she didn´t want to get her skirt torn again) and Freddy… man, she wasn´t ready to deal with him. Whatever he did today had been more than enough to already making her want to break his circuits and that was fairly unhealthy for her own mental health.   
In that case she should go ahead and help out the staff! Quickly she skipped off towards the kitchen, happy to talk to the chef. “Hello Ronaldo! Are there any pizzas to deliver?”   
“Oh, Baby! Why yes, there are a few in the oven currently…”   
“Great! I will wait right here.”   
“Please do! You´re the only one in this place I actually can stand…” Ronaldo smiled to himself. “If I think about it, you remind me a lot of a girl I used to work with. Back when I was employed by the mafia, the daughter of the boss was quite similar to you… headstrong and brave! It was quite a shame that she killed her father though. And half of the staff.”   
“How did you get out alive?”   
The chef laughed whole heartedly. “If I´d tell you, I couldn´t pull it off a second time!”   
“Hm… but Ronaldo, I would never ever kill you!”   
“Ah, you young girls are all the same.” He ruffled her hair and she giggled. “You´d sell me off to the cops for a damn candy cane, you damned wretch.”   
“Takes one to know one!”   
The oven made a sound and the pizza was removed. “Table ten, twenty, fourteen and thirty-three, in that order. Don´t get it mixed up, hooligan!”   
“Me? Never! Until later, Ronaldo!”   
Gladly she completed her task, enjoying the rush she got from following her programming. Nothing was better than feeling complete!   
“Babbo!” Orange Guy walked up to her, a mischievous smile on his face.   
“Dad! What are you up to?”   
“I had an idea! How about we take the water in your tank that you use for the water balloons and exchange it with acid?”   
“Dad! PLEASE! What is wrong with you? The acid would instantly evaporate the thin rubber and ruin the fun, dummy! How about we fill it up with mercury? It´s very poisonous!”   
“Oh Babby, you´re a smart cookie!” Already dashing off with glittering eyes, Old Sport hummed. “But where do I get mercury in that large quantities…?”   
Her father was a bit unfocused, but that was what she loved about him!   
Turning around again, she noticed that the whole area she should be at was shut off, cleaning staff was busy getting rid of the many robot-scraps scattered around. Feeling a little awkward, she spotted her friends and joined their side. “So… how long is this going to take?”   
Frustrated Funtime Foxy growled, as Freddy only laughed loudly. Ballora, who appeared quite resigned, shook her head. “Approximately around fifteen minutes.”   
“N-never mind, right-t-t? We-we-we could j-just talk about s-something different-t! For e-example, wewew-we have t-to talk about the-the guardsssss!”   
“Ah right!” They decided together that each of them would help out a certain Guard while the nightshift was going on, so they wouldn´t have a too easy time killing them. It was supposed to be fair after all! “Anyone already having their eyes on someone?”   
Foxy wagged its tail and made a phone motion. The being really liked the manager, since he never forgot to pat its head when he was around.   
“Phone Guy for you then! But shouldn´t one of us help him out as well, since you… you know… can´t really tell him what he has to do?”   
Ballora smiled slightly. “I would be more than happy to assist them.”   
“Oki-doki! I guess it´s between us now, Freddy! Who would you prefer, Jeremy or Mike?” Baby wouldn´t admit her own preference.   
Funtime Freddy snickered. “I-I-I wanna hang out-out w-with MIKEY! I´ll make-make-make sure he´ll s-s-survive the l-longest!”   
“Okay, in that case-”  
“Wait.” Ballora interrupted, furrowing her brow. “If I am not mistaken, Jeremy has some sort of animatronic partner already.”   
“Yeah… I guess…?” Baby shrugged a bit helpless. “If you don´t mind, Freddy, we could take turns being Mike´s partner and I only stay one night with Jeremy to teach him the basics?”   
They had planned out their schedule already, when their father first mentioned the “Night-game” and were pretty certain that, with enough patience, they would succeed eventually. Now it was only a matter of being nice animatronics and give everyone the same opportunity to win.   
The reward? Choosing the life the unlucky Guard would lead in the future… if one at all. The winner takes it all!   
Freddy appeared pretty angry. “H-how about you-you-you stuff a s-s-stick up-”  
“Freddy and I think that it is a WONDERFUL idea!” Bon-bon interrupted and kept his brother from finishing whatever sentence he was working on. Huffing Freddy crossed his arms and turned away.   
Relieved Baby glanced at the quickly working crew in the main area. “That´s done then! Remember, next week we have our first round, don´t forget what your pattern is supposed to be!”   
“C-couldn´t we just-just-just wait in f-f-front ofofof the do-oors?”   
“Freddy, we want to play with them! Not simply kill them!” Bon-bon was probably the animatronic with nerves of steel.   
Bored Foxy suddenly stood up and left. The ballerina followed his example without hesitation, leaving the two quarreler on their own to fight for the rest of the afternoon, or at least until Phone Guy told them to get back to their place and stop screaming at each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah... what can I say?  
> Uh... soon enough my holidays start, so I can do nothing but writing all day and I hope for some neat comments that I can suck energy and motivation from! ;3  
> Until then, MAH DUDES!


	25. Nightshift, Funshift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first week is passing and the first nightshift is due. Naturally, Mike is the first one begging for the sweet release of death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I H O P E Y O U E N J O Y

“So… this is it? We literally have no choice?” Mike peered at the giant death machines in the distance.  
“Oh, well, of course we another choice, I just like sending you to your possible death!” Phone Guy was sarcastic beyond belief, but hidden behind that was mostly fear. It had been hard enough to get him to agree that Mike would take on the first ever nightshift in this place.  
“You´re right, it was fucking retarded of me to ask… but this is just… so fucked! Vincent literally programmed the machines to hunt us at night, I mean, he conditioned the children inside to hate us, or what fucking ever!”  
“Did you expect anything else?”  
“No, but-! For fuck´s sake… so, the office has three entrances, right? More power than the last place, but still limited…”  
“Check the cameras as little as possible at first, but try to find the animatronic that is most likely to charge at you, Foxy, and try to look if focusing the camera at him bothers him in any way.”  
“So it´s a boy?”  
“DO I LOOK LIKE I CARE, MIKE? I`M TRYING TO KEEP YOU ALIVE RIGHT NOW. FOXYS USUALLY ARE GUYS AND EVEN IF NOT I`M PRETTY SURE IT WOULDN`T SAVE YOU TO KNOW ITS CORRECT PRONOUNS.”  
“YOU`LL NEVER KNOW IN THIS SHITSHOW!”  
The loud and very autistic screeching has attracted some attention, but as soon as they became quiet again, the onlookers stopped paying attention.  
Awkward both kept silent for a while and watched the equally as nervous animatronics, who were apparently discussing something as well, always turning their heads to look towards them, but once caught, pretending they were just staring into some random direction.  
Uncomfortable silence was stretching even further and Mike´s tense mind began wandering into random directions, until he couldn´t take it anymore.  
Finally he asked the question, the question he wanted to ask since he found out how Phone Guy was eating.  
“So… do you sleep in those shirts…? Those buttons would hurt, wouldn´t they?” Mike titled his head, still struggling imagining Phone Guy wearing other clothes.  
“No, I don´t sleep in those... I have a comfy pajama, also I have a wide range of sport-shirts, thank you very much.”  
“How the fuck do you… take them back off again?” On wouldn´t be that much of a problem, since it was progressively stretching wider, but… off you would basically need to tear it apart…  
Phone Guy watched him for a while before inching closer to him and leaning over, almost whispering. “You wanna come over to my place tonight and find out?”  
Immediately Mike was hit over the head with the innuendo of the words and gotten red while jumping back a meter. Phone Guy just shook his head, making Mike get even redder, as he realized that it had been a joke on his expense.  
“I… I… WHAT WERE I SUPPOSED TO REACT LIKE! FUCK! S-SINCE WHEN DO YOU... this… is WEIRD!”  
“Calm down Mike…”  
“And you even kept t-this blank face! HOW SHOULD I KNOW IT WAS A JOKE?”  
“Blank face?! I´m a bad liar, can´t you see… I`M COMPLETELY RED?”  
They stared at each other for a while. “I want to fucking kill you.”  
“Go ahead, honestly, at this point I deserve it.”  
They sat next to each other, both sighing.  
“But really, Mike, I would actually prefer you spend your night at my place and I´ll take over the shift…” As he noticed the expression of his co-worker, he raised his arms in a defeated manner. “I know, I know… you´re too prideful to not be the first one to face them. Maybe you think you´re a hero or something…”  
“HEY!”  
“No, I get it. I get that feeling perfectly well… but I fear for you. But I guess, it would be the same the other way around?”  
Helplessly Mike turned away, not liking to be put on the spot like this. Thankfully, Simon only smiled his invisible smile, a smile only Mike could see in the way his friend´s body relaxed and patted his back.  
“Thank you Mike. I will call you at midnight, then we´ll figure out what to do.”  
“If I don´t answer, don´t you DARE coming over here again. Believe me, if the robots won´t kill you, I will somehow come back and do it myself. Also, no need to thank me, it´s common sense! I´m the fucking magical one of us, with abilities to heal himself, wherever I got that shit from…”  
“Maybe from your good deeds for the kids?”  
“I had those before, apparently, otherwise I would be a fried piece of meat inside of the dumpster outside already…”  
“I would have buried you…”  
“Are you sure about that? Well, never mind, I ain´t dead yet, so might as well look forward for now. Do you think those ugly fuckers will act like they did before?”  
“Not… exactly. Foxy maybe, but Ballora? Baby? Even Freddy has a few new tricks up his sleeves… or wrists to be exact.”  
“Baby will be a pain in the ass, I can already see it… she´s probably the one creeping around and do the sudden attacks that I fucking hate. Standing around like three miles away and still managing to basically teleport to my door, cheating ass bitch.”  
“You´re… She´s cheating? Really? Is that the right term?”  
“It´s a game for them, so YES. CHEATING.”  
“If it´s their game, it´s their rules, so-”  
“Simon, did someone ever tell you that you should shut up?”  
“You, multiple times.”  
“THEN WHY AREN`T YOU FUCKING LISTENING TO ME?”  
“Must have overheard you, maybe you should scream a bit louder next time!”  
On the other side of the restaurant was an equally as heated argument.  
“Funtime Freddy! You can´t be the first one to spend the night with Mike, you will confuse everything!”  
“Sh-shut up, B-baby! I´m perfect-perfect-perfectly capable of t-t-eaching him!”  
“You´ll take an eternity just to get to the point!”  
“But I-I-I get to it e-e-eventually! Also, B-Bonbon can help-help!”  
“Yep! I will make sure everything goes like we said!”  
Baby crossed her arms. “You guys will only distract him!”  
Freddy leaned forward, aggressively grinning. “If you d-don´t let me-me-me do it, then I´ll d-d-do my best to ki-ki—kill him!”  
Frustrated Baby turned away. “You´re such an inconsiderate ass! Always you have to get something extra!”  
“B-because I´m the-the-the star!” Freddy laughed pretentiously. “Right Bon-b-bon?!”  
“Well, you ARE the Freddy of this place…” Obviously uncomfortable the small bunny looked away, disliking to be caught in the crossfire.  
Ballora sighed, resting one hand on the shoulders of each of the fighters. “Let Freddy do what makes him happy. We could go easy on him, it´s our first night anyway, so we should rather see it as practice.”  
Pouting, the giant bear crossed his arms. “You g-guys just d-don´t trust-trust-trust me!”  
“We need simply more practice, the fact that you are so unfortunate to take the first night is merely a coincidence. Now, please accept it or we have to talk with father about this…”  
“A-alright, but-but just because y-y-you asked me-me-me nicely-y-y!”  
At least father was able to keep Freddy in check… the supposed leader of the gang walked off, trying to find comfort from said man.  
It took surprisingly long, but finally she spotted her purple parent and run over to him. “Father, father! Funtime Freddy annoys me again…”  
Surprised Dave opened his arms and hugged his beloved child. “What did he do?”  
“Ah… he wants to ruin the nightshift if he doesn´t get his way…”  
“And that annoys you? Isn´t that already his trademark?”  
“Yes, but still!”  
“Lure him to the scooper and you´ll be able to get rid of him!” Cheerfully Purple Guy smiled and rubbed her back in a somewhat comforting manner.  
This made her slightly uncomfortable, after all they were talking about a family member… though of course father was right. If she wanted to, she could free herself of that nuisance…  
“I guess you´re right, I should accept him for his difference and just be happy about having him in the first place. Thank you father…”  
Confused Dave furrowed his brows, but accepted whatever she interpreted in his offer of killing off her friend. Slightly baffled he watched her leave again. “You´re welcome!”  
Children were weird… eh… maybe he should read a few of those nifty books about children heads and-  
OH, THERE WAS SPORTSY!  
“Old Sport, Old Sport! Where have you been?!” Whining he jumped at his partner, who couldn´t help but smile.  
“I made sure the office was fine for tonight’s show! Set up a few cameras, checked the energy usage of the doors, you name it! I´ll admit, I´m excited to see how they´ll do!”  
A hard sting of jealousy flooded Dave´s veins, without any warning. Yeah, he made those machines for many difference reason, one of them being to get Old Sport attached, but now… “They´ll be fine of their own! How about we go out tonight and hunt some teens?”  
“We´re going to get the police on our case again…”  
“You´re no fun!”  
“I want to keep my home and I want to keep you, so yeah, some things need to be stopped.”  
Slightly flustered Purple Guy looked at him and shook his head, before suddenly pulling out some roller-skates, straight from his ass or magical back pocket, whatever you would prefer to imagine, you SICK FUCK.  
“What the…”  
“Roller-skates!”  
“I´m interested~”  
“Quick, quick, take ´em on!”  
Slightly excited Orange Guy obliged, surprised by their weight. “I never tried these out… how do you keep balance here?!”  
Giggling Dave helped him up and watched him wibble-wobble around. After he felt sure enough that the poor boy wouldn´t fall over at any moment, he snapped his own pair onto his feet and stood up next to him, smirking mischievously. “So, guess what you gotta do now!”  
“Uh… move?” Helpless Old Sport tried to move forward without actually taking his feet of the ground, ending in him simply going back and forth.  
“Pff… great work, Old Sport, keep at it and maybe you will get somewhere until tomorrow!”  
“Quit making fun of me!” Shortly he considered punching him, but was too scared to fall over if he tried that. “What am I supposed to do?!”  
“First off, you can keep the balance with only one of them on the ground, so lift ´em up!”  
Carefully this advice was tried out and apparently it worked quite nicely, they slowly moved forward. “Uh… if I want to stop, then what am I supposed to do…?”  
“Just lift your toes upwards, there´s some sort of rubber at the back of the-”  
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH  
And so Old Sport blasted away.  
“Oh. Right. I exchanged it with rockets…” For a minute Dave paused, listening to the screams in the distance. “Sportsy is gonna be pissed. Dear Lord, he´s gonna be pissed…”  
Old Sport was indeed pissed, but a bit more TERRIFIED FOR HIS LIFE TO THINK ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW. Colors were flying by and somehow he managed not to smash into a wall, which was actually not a good thing, since THE FUCKING HELL WAS SPEEDING UP.  
Somewhere along the line there were snippets of Phone Guy screaming at him about not being allowed to use rocket-skaters indoors, but maybe it were just his own screams being twisted apart by the speed.  
Oh hey, a purple smudge!  
He should try to hit it.  
Phone Guy was clutching his head, not ready to deal with the orange missile flying around.  
Dave on the other hand couldn´t help but laugh at the havoc they managed to create again. It was a glorious sight to behold, customers, adults and children alike screaming out loudly and jumping away, before the orange comet rushed past them.  
“DAVE, DO SOMETHING!”  
“What am I- WAIT, I HAVE AN IDEA.” Suddenly said Eggplant man grabbed his trusty kidnapper-rope and threw it into the route, being immediately pulled away, screaming in ecstasy. They were now able to communicate almost properly.  
“DAVE, WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GRAB ME?!”  
“BECAUSE I CAN`T LET YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN ALONE, RIGHT?!”  
“THIS ISN`T FUN!”  
“STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!”  
“OKAY, MAYBE A BIT, BUT I FEEL LIKE THROWING UP!”  
“HEY, LET`S GRAB THE PHONE AS WELL!”  
“Y E S !”  
Within the next round the poor manager was sucked in as well now screaming out his circuits. “LET ME GO!”  
“THAT WOULD KILL YOU!”  
“A FATE BETTER THAN THIS.”  
“ALRIGHT, IF THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT-”  
Suddenly they fell out, or rather shoot out into the outside portion of the park and somehow managed to end up on the tracks of a Rollercoaster. N O I C E.  
Their speed thankfully stopped them form falling off, but still Orange Guy was screaming his non-existent soul out. If he was not able to keep his balance on the ground, HOW WAS HE SUPPOSED TO KEEP IT UP HERE?!  
BUT ALAS! PHONEY STILL SHALL BE SACRIFICED!  
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”  
MIKE JOINED THE PARTY, STANDING ON TOP OF AN APPROACHING WAGON, HIS TIE HE FOR SOME REASON CHOSE TO WEAR TODAY, EVEN IF HE HATED DRESS-CODE, FLUTTERING IN THE WIND. SCREAMING HE JUMPED AT THEM GETTING INSTANTLY TANGLED UP! The kick attack he was aiming to do sadly fell flat as he was ripped into another position by the speed and while he wasn´t screaming, he was making a very distinct hissing sound as all air was pressed out of his body. What he managed to do though, was obscuring Purple Guy´s sight, forcing him to keep hold of Phone Guy. “You fucking pieces of shit.”  
“YOU`RE THE ONE JUMPING IN YOU CUNT!”  
“Fucking kill yourself!”  
Now all four of them were flung around as magic and plot contrivance ensured that this story wouldn´t find in anticlimactic end- well, not end but depressing middle part- consistent of them becoming an inconsistent smudge at the wall.  
They all were screaming, (except Mike who was cursing) for their not-really-dear life, as they flew off the rollercoaster, landing like a perfect ten on the ground again, making everyone applaud before screaming in terror again as they continued to blast away.  
ONLY ONE BRAVE SOUL, THE CHOSEN ONE OF THIS WORLD- actually not, I shouldn´t spread lies- STOOD UNAFFECTED IN THEIR WAY!  
“Sir, what… what are you doing there?”  
“NO JEREMY!”  
“RUN MY CHILD!”  
“FUCK OFF RIGHT NOW!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY BRAH!”  
But before anyone could react, the small Guard was sucked into the gravity field of insanity and clung onto his boss, terrified beyond belief. “THIS ISN`T AS MUCH FUN AS IT LOOKED LIKE!”  
“Fuck, you´re a smart cookie, aren´t you?”  
“WE TOLD YOU TO SAVE YOURSELF!”  
Dave and Old Sport were a little too busy trying to navigate their route to answer.  
What is happening, Jerem-  
And voila, finally the puppet was faced with his greatest enemy, the one he couldn´t defeat: G-FORCE!  
It was flung out of his comfortable backpack, against the next wall, an unfortunate crowd, or who-knows-what.  
Rap in Pepperoni Poopet, you´ll be sorely missed. Or not, you´ll be back again anyway, so who cares.  
Worried Jeremy turned away, but had enough self-awareness to not let go to check onto his mechanical friend. It stopped him from screaming for a solid minute though, which was pretty respectable if you think about it.  
A few rounds of nonsensical screaming, finally they were stopped by some sort of higher force! If you call an especially humanoid (if you define boobs as an especially human trait) dancer Animatronic. Ballora had stepped onto the rope hanging out in the back, stopping them almost instantly.  
She picked the rope up and held it tightly in her hands. Even without opening her eyes, she looked deeply disappointed.  
“I- I can explain!”  
“We just-”  
“Actually-”  
“I´m s-s-s-sorry…”  
“I wish I could fucking die.”  
Sighing Ballora shook her head. “I should tie you all up! What were you thinking…? I cannot deal with the chaos ALL THE TIME.”  
“Pls don´t.” Old Sport tried to find some semblance of balance, while standing up, his eyes still twirling.  
“Ah… you are supposed to be responsible. How can you be a guardian with this behavior?”  
Dave laughed, high-pitched, his body shaking in excitement. “What are you TALKING about?! THIS WAS AWESOME! WE SHOULD DO THAT AGAIN!”  
“NO! NONONONO!” Phone Guy jumped up, jumping around in anger. “NEVER AGAIN! YOU WILL LEAVE FOR TODAY! I WISH I COULD FIRE YOU! GO! NOW! BEFORE I RECONSIDER!”  
Slightly intimidated, team Psycho left towards the entrance, leaving before any more bombs could go off. Most customers followed their example, as it was closing time anyway.  
Jeremy had picked up his companion, sorrowful trying to check for any broken parts, until the Marionette finally floated upwards again, slightly salty.  
What the hell. This was not part of the deal…  
“There was a deal?!”  
What I meant was that I did not expect that to happen. Usually things like this simply don´t happen!  
“But… I mean… okay, we didn´t have a roller-coaster before, but…” Jeremy pondered for a while, but soon was distracted by a giant yawn. “We survived, didn´t we…? I´m sleepy… let´s go home…”  
Smiling, Jeremy picked him up and hugged him tightly while walking outside. Mike watched as the restaurant got emptier and emptier by the second.  
Now it all… was creepy. That´s how Freddy´s was supposed to be, apparently. People LOVED the freaky stuff.  
Simon came closer, as usually somewhat glued to his one and only friend. He probably was more scared than the Nightguard himself. Admittedly, the place was eerie… the sudden silence, only broken by childish laughter coming from the unseen animatronics... yeah, this was as bad as when he first had started.  
The robots had vanished into the back, reminding him as well of the old times. Well, usually the animatronics became silent at evening, seemingly tired of their day work and since he now knew that there were actually people inside of them that actually made some sense.  
Wow, he really just casually thought that.  
W O W.  
Freddy´s was disturbing. Maybe he should remember that.  
Nervous Simon looked around, searching for something apparently, something Mike would bet his sanity he could never find here.  
The will to live? Maybe.  
The source of danger? Probably.  
Mike personally felt slightly smothered by his friend´s overprotective acting. It wasn´t as if the Phone would actually be able to do anything…  
“Simon, you should leave now.”  
“Why?! You still have about six hours-”  
“That I´d rather spent sleeping!”  
Phone Guy slightly jerked back at those harsh words and finally backed off completely. “I´ll call you at midnight. Please… stay safe.”  
“Fuck off mate, I can handle this!” It was maybe a bit unfair, but the annoyed Guard simply couldn´t take this fearful energy radiating from him.  
“Hear from you later…”  
Once the Nightguard settled into the office, he asked himself if he actually COULD sleep in here. The old animatronics wouldn´t move until midnight, for… reasons? Everyone here had some sort of weird code of honor that they followed for whatever godforsaken reason.  
Maybe that was just M A G I C. After all, he was currently not taking the animatronics apart-  
If he did that-  
His mind felt red. So very, very red.  
Of course he wouldn´t take the animatronics apart! After all, they were the attraction and without them, they wouldn´t make any money and if they wouldn´t make any money, they would have to shut down. Would be pretty stupid, wouldn´t it?  
Slowly he closed his eyes, feeling himself nodding off.  
“L-l-look Bonbon! MIKEY IS-S-S SLEEPING!”  
“You may want to be silent Freddy, after all-”  
“NOT ANYMORE, FUCKHEAD!” Almost falling out of his comfy chair, the human got into attack mode, his torch at his side, ready to bash its mechanical head.  
“C-calm down, friendfriendfriend! I´m here to-to h-help you!”  
“Freddy is right, you know? We came here to explain you the rules!” Bonbon cheerfully gave an energetic fist… paw up.  
“Oh fuck no. I don´t want your help, fuck off.” Trying to get into a more comfortable and especially more dignified position, he growled at the giant machine in his office. Yes, he might should be afraid, but he was WAY too angry to feel any amount of fear.  
This enormous piece of metal shit was cramming the already small place even further, giving him a fucking headache out of claustrophobia.  
“Well, that-that-that is rude-e-e! I just w-wanna be a nice-NICE-nice friend!”  
“FRIEND?! YOU CAN FUCKING FUCK OFF WITH THAT BULLSHIT, YOU WILL TRY TO KILL ME IN ABOUT-” Shortly he checked the time, noticing that it was literally one minute midnight. “ABOUT NOW.”  
“I-I-I swear I won´twon´twon´t! We´re honest m-m-machines, RIGHT Bonbon?”  
“Yep, totally true! We all made a deal to make the game fair, so you can rely on us to help you!”  
“HA! GAME! I KNEW IT! YOU SHITHEADS ARE PLAYING A GAME WITH MY LIFE! WELL, FUCK YOU!”  
“M-mikeyyyyy- Don´t do-do-do that to ME! I wanna keep you safe-safe-safe!”  
“I´d feel safer if you would PISS OFF!”  
The mechanical bear tilted his head, his eyes glowing brightly blue in the darkness. “You should r-r-really take mymymy a-advice, friend… or you will get n-none at-t-t-t all!”  
“Nooo, Freddy! You can´t be that mean! Let´s be nice to Mike and at least try to explain it to him, okay?”  
With shaking hands the human turned to the bunny. “You´re even more FUCKING ANNOYING than THE FUCKER HIMSELF! SHUT UP! NEVER SPEAK AGAIN! I DON`T CARE!”  
“But… Mike… I´m keeping him from killing you…”  
“KILL ME! FUCKING FUCK! YOU`RE SQUEAKS MAKE ME WANNA BLOW MY FUCKING BRAINS OUT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!”  
Suddenly there was a polite knock at the door. Baby stood there, smiling slightly pretentiously. “Problems?”  
“Shu-shu-shut up BABY, I`M p-p-p-perfectly able to deal-deal-deal with this-s-s!” Aggressively Freddy huffed.  
“It´s past midnight, we are actually supposed to start now…”  
“NO! Y-y-you don´t HAVE to, right?! I didn´t-t-t even go-o-o-ot to EXPLAIN!”  
“Freddy, you said you would be able to guide him.”  
“I-I-I-IAAAMMMMM! GO A-AWAY-YYYYY!” Fully glitching out of rage, Freddy threw Bonbon right at her face, an ugly CLUNK echoing through the halls.  
Now Mike had two angry animatronics in his fucking office. GREAT.  
"For heaven´s sake, could you both just SHUT UP!" Mike wasn´t one to be sensible, especially when it came to machines that were perfectly able to kill him at any minute.  
"I DIDN`T EVEN SAY ANYTHING!" Insulted Baby rubbed her face, even though she shouldn´t be able to feel any sort of pain.  
"B-but you´re stupid-id-id anywayyyy!" Apparently Freddy felt as if he found some sort of spiteful ally in the Nightguard.  
"NOW BOTH OF YOU WILL LEAVE!" Feeling slightly more confident in his position, Mike was brave enough to tell both of them what he really wanted, even if he had the slight worry that it could entail them ripping him apart. The world belonged to the bolt or something like that?  
Baby shook her head, her red pigtails making it look slightly silly. "Freddy HAS to explain this all to you! Otherwise we´ll just get you in under an hour, making this whole game pointless!"  
"This ain´t my first rodeo, Baby, I can fucking deal with this on my own! WHY DOES EVERYONE JUST ASSUME I CAN`T DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!"  
"We-We-We aren´tttt thinking THAT, it´s just-just-just that we are p-p-p-pretty great ourselves!" Smugly he shook his head, laughing at the human as one would at an overly confident toddler. This just broke even more straws that represented Mike´s sanity.  
"WELL, YOU AREN`T AS GREAT AS YOU THINK! I survived THREE generations of animatronics, I won´t falter against you baby-ass-bitches!"  
The girl seemed ready to give up. "Fine, if that´s the way you want it... Let´s leave him, Freddy and get ready to attack."  
Bonbon squeaked loudly. "That´s... that´s not fair! How about the vents? We HAVE TO tell him about that!"  
Mike took a quick look at them. "Let me guess, I have to CLOSE them?"  
"Y-yeah, but... Please, Mike, you don´t know what you´re doing! What about the pattern of the Minireenas attacks? The controlled shock? The way Foxy attacks from one of three different places?"  
"I´m gonna see that when it happens! I´m not mentally retarded, unlike you and your fucked friends!"  
Aggressively Bonbon stopped to stare at him.  
"Alright then." His high-pitched voice made a pitiful attempt at being threatening. "In that case, there should be no problem if we give our all tonight, right?"  
"Just try it, you literal manifestation of cancer!" He wasn´t scared, of course not. Fear was the emotion of the sensible and smart, two things you couldn´t REALLY say about the human in this place.  
"Alrighty! Freddy, let´s go and get him!" Bonbon had quickly changed perspective apparently and was now perfectly fine with getting himself a little bit of red onto the fur. To everyone´s surprise was it the psychotic bear himself who was having second thoughts.  
"No-o-no-no! We can´t-t-t just give him up-up-up like that... also, if-if-if we give up no-o-ow, we won´t get to decide-e-e-e what happens to-to-to the corpse!"  
Bonbon rolled his eyes. "Who cares?! He´s a stupid idiot, he isn´t even worth that we take the time to decide his death!"  
Freddy furrowed his brow. "I wanna eat-eat-eat him! No, we´ll s-s-s-stay here!"  
Why was live on earth such a fucking hell? "No one of you fucked creatures will get to eat me! I WILL SURVIVE YOUR BULLSHIT, FOR FUCK`S SAKE!"  
But to no avail, Freddy had already settled back in. "Don´t w-w-w-worry, Mikey, we´re still-still-still friends!"  
"I DON`T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!"  
"You´re so-so-so funny when you´re m-m-m-mad! AHAHAHAHAHAHAahaHhAhhHAhaaah!" His laughter was ever creepier than Dave´s and that meant A LOT.  
The leader of the animatronic team simply turned around. "I will tell them that we are ready to go now. Be prepared for our attacks, Mike!" With one last giggle she left the entrance and vanished into the darkness.  
Quickly Mike took one small checkup over the camera. Ballora was in a room where the camera´s had been cut off, but her music made recognizing her incredibly easy. Funtime Foxy was running around outside the restaurant, shortly freezing when its eyes met the glowing camera.  
Ah, slowing him down. Fine that was easy to remember.  
Freddy was sitting behind him and could potentially snap his neck at any minute, so he wouldn´t have to worry about that.  
He toggled the camera and checked inside the vents. It seemed that this was Baby´s domain, even though he couldn´t spot her anywhere, her constant laughter made her placement pretty clear.  
Now... where were the Minireenas?  
He could spot those small devils scattered around the restaurant, only catching glimpses of them as they ran around and hid in different places. Were they able to kill him?  
He doubted that. In any case, if they came to close, he would just slap them away or something, he was like twenty times bigger than them for god´s sake!  
The night began with the soft chime of bells somewhere in the back, a noise Mike has gotten used to only recognize on a subconscious level, as the rest was focused on keeping the schedule.  
But what schedule?  
Once more he checked Foxy, making it stop dead in its tracks, before changing back to the room with the broken down camera. Turns out it wasn´t broken at fucking all, but rather the darkness followed Ballora like a mother, while she stayed only audible through her all-consuming music.  
Weird. Yet, if she was in front of his door he could probably hear her...  
Baby still hadn´t come out of hiding, but that was no surprise, after all it was the first night. Maybe she had a trick she wanted to reveal on later nights.  
Freddy behind him began humming to Ballora´s tune, out of synch and pretty shitty in general, but it was better than his constant talking, at least in Mike´s opinion.  
Thankfully, Mike´s opinion was the only one that currently mattered anyway.  
He forced himself to not check the cameras and listen to the sounds surrounding him instead, a way that had saved him his life quite a lot of times.  
Yes, indeed, he could be proud to say that he managed to adapt the most different of tactics while being stuck in this godforsaken restaurant, skills no one in the real world ever probably wanted or needed.  
This was just great.  
The animatronics moved fairly slowly and somewhat clumsy even, not used to being supposed to sneak around the establishment. It was easy to hear them coming from a mile away and no matter what side Ballora chose, she was greeted with a firmly shut door.  
For Baby he would need to think of something though... her ever annoying presence made him nervous.  
"Hey-y--y Mikey-moo! How ´bout you-you-you check on Foxy? Better sorry than d-d-dead!"  
Growling the human admitted to himself that that was not a bad idea. Flipping up the cameras without really acknowledging that, he quickly spotted that Foxy gave some sort of excited glow from his eyes, which he assumed was due to him getting ready to attack. Oh, if only all animatronics were this obvious when they were planning on literally jumping down his throat.  
"Fox-x-x-xy can come through three-three-three different p-p-places!"  
Stress made Mike almost make a dirty joke, but he was thinking better of it, especially since he knew it would only end in his own despair and shame.  
"There´s-s-s the front-t-t, the back-back-backdoor and it f-f-found a window somewhere that-that-that shouldn´t be-"  
CLING. Oh boi, that was probably a window.  
"C-closed...?"  
Not even upset Mike checked the cameras and yes, the window was shuttered and the white fox was holding its snout, whining.  
Ballora immediately changed places away from the office door, giving the person inside a chance to save even more battery. Their dispute was echoing through the halls, but even if she sounded pretty peevish, it was obvious that she was attempting to help the poor creature.  
Well, what they wasted in their stupidity, was his win for freedom. Silently cursing at himself, more out of comfort than anything else, he leaned back and closed his eyes, knowing that they would try to use his own fear against him to waste power.  
He knew better though.  
Freddy curiously looked at him. "B-bored already?"  
"Of course, after all I´m just fighting for my life right now, nothing I really care about."  
"W-wowoowowow, you´re pretty h-h-hardcore!"  
Being called hardcore by an animatronic was similar to being called "rad" by your parents. They probably meant well, but it came out almost more painful than being called a total failure.  
"Shut up Freddy."  
"Wanna hear a-a-a-a JOKE?"  
"NO."  
"What did the-"  
"I SAID SHUT UP BEFORE I RIP YOUR SHITTY HEAD OFF YOUR BODY."  
Pouting Freddy turned away again. "I just-t wanted to-to-to shorten your n-n-night..."  
"The night is already short enough, thank you very much... NOT." This was true though, whenever he spend the night at Freddy´s, it never felt like a night... it was as if everything sped up, or as if his body slowed down... but that could be due to his sickness warping his perception of time. Wasn´t the first place that happened.  
Ah, Ballora was back. Left this time, her music was pretty silent...  
CLUNK.  
OH. OH NO.  
Mike closed the door, thankful that she kicked against something she hadn´t seen. She was smart enough to make her fucking music quieter when she came closer, HOW THE FUCK HAD HE NOT THOUGHT OF THAT?  
Now he knew. Great.  
God, maybe he should just open the door and kill himself.  
RING! RING!  
"Hello? H-hello, hello!"  
"Hey, PG."  
"Ah, you´re alright! I´m glad... sorry, I´ve called later because-"  
"Doesn´t matter, I already figured everything out."  
"WHAT? HOW?!"  
"By using my fucking brain that I DO have, even if you don´t believe that." Quickly he summarized the different tactics they were using, before checking his camera and adding that the Minireenas were visible on the screen and should get a controlled shock.  
"This... this is really impressive! But..." Like always Simon found something to worry about. "What is about Freddy?"  
"Well..."  
"I´m-m-m-m right here, b-boss!"  
"FREDDY IS IN YOUR OFFICE!"  
Groaning Mike held the receiver away from himself. "Yes and he doesn´t do anything. Chill the fuck out, don´t you think I wouldn´t notice a giant machine creeping up behind me?!"  
"Some... some didn´t." Those words were laced in bitter sadness.  
Unsure of what to do, the Nightguard simply decided to drop the topic. "Anyway, apparently they will explain the rules themselves to any new Nightguard, to make it """FAIR""", whatever that means for them."  
"F-f-air mean-s-s-s fair!" The bear held the opinion that it shouldn´t be too hard to grasp. "We alway-y-always give our b-b-best to be n-n-niceeeee, so... except that-that-that one time with the m-m-milkman."  
No, he DIDN`T want to know what he was talking about.  
Phone Guy paused shortly, deep worry in his voice. "Are you sure he isn´t going to..."  
"Well, if he is then I can´t do any-fucking-thing about it, right? We have to hope for the best you know, something that worked out far more often than actually reasonable."  
"Alright, I leave you to it then-"  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARFFGFRGFRR" All he wanted to fucking do was to take another look at the vent and now he had currently a FUCKING MINIREENA PLASTERED ONTO HIS FACE.  
"MIKE! MIKE, IS EVERYTHING OKAY? WHAT HAPPENED?"  
"THERE`S A FUCKING ANIMATRONIC ON MY FACE!"  
"WHAT?! WHO?"  
"THE FUCKING MINIREENAFUCK! GET OFF! GET FUCKING OFF!" The sudden burst of laughter on the other side didn´t really help to relax the situation. "WHAT`S SO FUCKING FUNNY, YOU FUCK?!"  
"It´s just... it probably looks so silly!"  
"I COULD GET MY EYEBALLS RIPPED OUT AND YOU THINK THAT IT LOOKS SILLY?!"  
"Well... uh... stay calm! Old Sport´s Minireena once did the same thing to me-"  
"YOU HAVE NO EYEBALLS, YOU TWAT!"  
"Uh... right. Damn. But if she wanted to do that, she would already have done it, right?"  
For a second Mike decided to stay still, resulting in the small machine giggling. "IT`S LAUGHING AT ME, SIMON!"  
"We are all laughing at you- just kidding. At least laughing is better than trying to kill, right?"  
“I can´t see very well… urgh…” A slight semblance of fear was creeping into his voice. Finally it sunk in that the animatronics were actually just playing with him. They were literally just playing.  
They could chose to kill at any moment.  
That wasn´t comforting. This was pretty nerve wrecking in all honesty.  
If he really stopped to think, he… he was actually surrounded by murderers all the time. Actually, everyone could chose to kill him, at any second, without any provocation.  
His life was hanging onto a thin string representing the weird mood swings of most of his co-workers. Screw that, all of his co-workers. If Jeremy suddenly decided it was time to STAB EVERYONE, then he would not see that coming and would probably be unable to do anything.  
On the other hand… what could actually kill him?  
Doubtful he stared at his hands, hands that had been cut apart by metal and glass, without looking any different.  
What was he?!  
“Mike? Are you still there?” Simon thankfully stopped this mental breakdown.  
“SHIT, FOXY!” Checking and YES, THE FOX WAS CURRENTLY RIGHT ON ATTACK MODE, RUNNING UP RIGHT ON THE RIGHT SIDE. In the last second he managed to close the door, making Funtime Freddy play a fake applause.  
“I-I-I already-y-y thought you-you-you were goner!”  
Grudgingly Mike shot him a dirty look, wishing for him to just fuck off. Sadly, his dirty look was currently obscured by a small ballerina, so he wasn´t sure if he got the right message across. “But I´m not, so shut it.”  
The voice on the other end of the phone sounded a bit calmer. “So, you´re still alive… good. You should be almost done by now, how much power do you have left?”  
“Plenty.” No matter how high the number was he would tell Simon, he would still find a way to throw a hissy-fit.  
“Mike… okay, okay.”  
A giggle sounded and instantly Mike checked the vents. Baby actually showed herself, lying inside with a smile, holding up a piece of paper.  
`You´re doing well`  
It was written neatly and her smile made him uncomfortable. She giggled once more as she saw the camera had activated and wrote down something else.  
`But we can do better too. See you next time´  
Suddenly the clock chimed and it was six o´clock.  
Confused he stared at the phone that was deactivated.  
What… what did just happen?  
He lost time again.  
Freddy patted his back, making the human almost crush into a table. “G-g-good job, friend-d—d! Next time-time-time it´ll be e-e-even better!”  
And with that the monster left.  
Birds were singing outside. Maybe. How would he fucking knew, he was in the belly of this monstrous complex, he couldn´t hear shit from the outside.  
Slowly he rose from his place, his legs shaking for no good reason. God, he should go home and sleep.  
Ballora was accompanying him towards the door, respectfully bowing. “Save me a dance for another day… perhaps.”  
Freddy had a shit-eating grin on his face, proud of himself to have won this round against the others, ignoring that he barely did anything and all his friends held themselves back. No one really was in the mood to correct him though.  
Baby couldn´t help but smile at this first night. “Alright everyone! Let´s gather around and discuss what we will do next time!”  
Ballora hid her face, deeply distraught. “I accidently hit the wall while closing in on him. I was so close… oh god… this is such a disgrace…”  
“Ah, come on Ballora, you did well!” Baby smiled at her, pretty glad that Mike hadn´t gotten caught that easily. She wanted to kill all the guards herself and if someone else would have gotten them first, they would have gotten to decide what happened to them…  
Thankfully, she still had all the time in the world to think of a perfect fate for all of them!  
In all honesty, she wanted to keep them… even if it would get complicated to make them join their group.  
Hm… maybe that would actually be the fun part…?  
“B-baby?! WAKE UP-UP-UP!” Freddy began shaking her violently.  
“WHAT IS IT?! Stop!” Shrieking out of shock she looked over.  
“You d-d-didn´t react at all-all-all!”  
“I was rebooting! Be more patient!”  
“Y-you´re lying! Righrightright, Bonbon?!”  
But his little companion stayed silent, sulking apparently.  
Sunlight crept through the high windows, reminding them that a new day was about to start  
Ballora turned away. “I will… practice another dance now. Please forgive me.”  
Freddy yawned loudly. “I´ll go to the charging station…”  
Foxy simply rolled around and then ran away. Fine then.  
Baby sighed wondering why they even got her to listen to them again. Never mind. Silently she returned to her stage to have a good view of the entrance, maybe she could scare whoever was first today…  
But until then she was free to consider which torture would break the mind of humans the most easily. Maybe she should ask her father today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My exact thoughts while writing the roller-skate part: Huh, since they regenerate, would them all becoming a smudge on the wall mean that they would become a cruel fusion of minds?!  
> Wouldn´t that be a kick in the… thankfully that won´t happen though. 
> 
> Now, everyone… I actually have a question: Would you think shorter chapters would be better? In the beginning it started out with only 3.000~5.000 words and I don´t know if that was better to read. Long chapters can be quite tiring, so… would you prefer if I used ~6.000 words as a maximum instead of a normal benchmark again?


	26. The chest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know  
> You can´t  
> resist  
> the temptation...  
> inside the chest! 
> 
> Plushtrap - Groundbreaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! THERE WILL BE H O R R I B L E RAP HERE - You better get ready to cringe at the Sport  
> More Sportsy focused action, as Anon the Magical “requested”! I hope you enjoy! Though… it probably isn´t all what one expects from “Sportsy focused action”…though you´re all probably used to that by now.

If one must enter the amusement park known as “Circus Baby´s Pizza World”, one is advised to take many precautions, for example bringing Pepper Spray, a knife, a Taser, never go around alone, never speak to the animatronics and many more things…  
But since newer times… a new threat has fallen upon the youngsters trying to forget their shitty life here… a threat crueler and more vicious than anything else inside of this place.  
Right now it was lurking in the vents, its breath echoing through the metal cage, to soon shortly stop as it found another victim of its liking.  
This monsters solely hunted for groups to satisfy its hunger in the most perverted way possible, the more kiddens, the better. But do not think for a moment you´re safe because you´re an adult! This predator didn´t care about anything, as long as the group was big enough.  
Big enough to suffocate THE URGE.  
Ah… there was a perfect group, right there…  
The monster showed its horrible smile and fully got rid of the metal grit that currently was standing between him and his destiny.  
Not any longer.  
This was the end.  
Finally. IT WAS TIME!  
The monster jumped into the light, revealing it´s orange skin as he pounced that giant distance from ceiling to ground, right into the middle of the poor, unprepared crowd, got out his weapons of choice and began his unholy work!  
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT, NOOT, NOOT, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!  
AIRHORNS WERE HELD RIGHT INTO THE INNOCENT CHILDREN`S FACES AS THEIR LOUD SOUNDS ALMOST RIPPED AWAY THE SKIN FROM THEM!  
THE ORANGE SCARESTER STRIKES AGAIN!  
Screaming all the humans in the area scattered, leaving Sportsy accomplished beyond belief. Satisfied he howled his victory into the world, attracting his own natural predator, the Phone-Man!  
While wild Phone-Men weren´t as vicious, they were impressively more persevering than the fearsome Orange-Man and so managed to beat him down.  
“EMPLOYEEEEE! DID YOU SCARE THE CUSTOMERS AGAIN?!”  
“PLS SPANK ME, DADDY!”  
Simon clutched his head, but calmed down quickly and gave only one heavy sigh. “Employee, I wish you had a brain.”  
“Wha…? Wasn´t it my soul?”  
“Never mind a soul, if you at least had a brain, then I could at least count on you to act remotely reasonable from time to time!”  
“Maybe I have a brain and that brain told me that there´s no actual reason to listen to reason? Hmmm? I mean, what would it matter if I acted NORMAL?”  
“You could get some friends in the first time in your hecking life.”  
“Ouch! I have Dave!”  
Sarcastic the manager crossed his arms. “He only wants you for your body.”  
Both stayed silent for a second, before beginning to snicker. It was weird, but the Phone was actually laughing as well, shaking his head.  
“You´re much calmer than I… well, I´m used to!”  
“Probably because I know there´s actually nothing worse that can happen to me than this.” He paused, then let his head hang a little. “That´s not true. Of course not.”  
“Huh? What´s that? Suddenly getting second thoughts?”  
“… You know… “Old Sport”… I can´t figure you out. Sometimes I think I found that one thing that defines you, or that I can call what you´re capable of and what not, but… you change like the weather. One day I get the feeling you would never hurt me and would want to keep your life here as consistent as possible, the other day I can almost see you crushing every employee in this building before using a sharpened spoon to scoop out my organs.”  
“H-ha… as if I would EVER do that!”  
“Would you do that for Dave?”  
They stared at each other, before Simon turned away. “Listen… stop scaring those poor kids and find something more productive to do with your time.”  
“What do you define as “productive”?”  
“Something that makes us money and doesn´t get us sued.”  
“Okay… FUCK THAT!” And with that the Orange Autist climbed up the wall again like a spider, to vanish back into his natural habitat, the vents and find a good new place to attack. He decided that his next coup should be the by the giant stage.  
Falling from the sky, making twenty backflips, three somersaults and a toast, he landed perfectly nourished in the middle of the show, interrupting the slightly shocked Baby and summoned a demon-microphone straight from hell.  
“GIVE ME A BEAT!”  
“W-what?”  
“BEATBOX-BABY AND THE RAPPING ORANGE ARE BACK!”  
For another second Baby tried to process the situation, before simply going along.  
“EVERYBODY! GIVE IT UP! TIME FOR A BATTLE! R-R-RAP BATTLE! COME UP AND SEE HOW YOU`LL DO!”  
Phone Guy, who almost climbed up to get him of the stage, froze not ready to publicly humiliate himself like his employee. Desperate he wondered if he would got fired if he set the stage on fire.  
BUT MIKE CAME TO THE RESCUE!  
“Leave it to me, I had my fair share of-”  
JUST KIDDING, JEREMY WAS ALREADY ON THE STAGE!  
Wait, what?  
The small Guard smiled excited. “Is this kinda like karaoke?”  
“NOT REALLY, BABBY-BOY, BUT NOW YOU GOTTA SHOW ME WHAT YOU`VE GOT!”  
“O-oh no, please! Go first, I´d love to hear what you want to sing!”  
“K-Kay! BABY, GIMME THE BEST BEAT YOU GOT!”  
Embarrassed the animatronic gave a sigh and began with the request. The Orange got into the rhythm and began to pour his heart out.  
“Who is that I see, the little boy called Jeremy! Turn around, you can flee, before I pull you into a controversy! I´m the man of the stage, upstage the people I engage, killing their wealth and health- I´m the fearsome orange, fighting every ghost you got, rapping better than you by a lot- can you even deal with insults, faggot? My rhymes make you grove, I know how to get the people move and if you try to overthrow my endless reign of flow, I may give you the finishing blow!”  
Confused Jeremy smiled, unsure if he was supposed to be applause, since the music was still going. The poor guy didn´t even notice that the crowd got impatient and so there was only one could save him now, as Mike got ready to-  
The Marionette exploded out of the backpack, readjusting his shades and beginning to spit FIRE. Metaphorical… at least for now.  
LET ME TAKE YOU ON A JOURNEY BELOW, WHERE YOU`LL FORGOET ABOUT REALITY AND ALL THAT YOU KNOW! STUCK INSIDE A GLITCH LIKE AN ANIMATRONIC THAT BROKE, I`M PULLING YOUR STRINGS, YOU “STAR OF THE SHOW”!  
The people around them calmed again and began to clap. Marion didn´t care though, he was ON A ROLL!  
WELCOME TO THE CEMETERY OF ABOMINATION, THE FORGOTTEN MONSTERS, HENRY MILLER´S MAKING! IF YOU RAP AGAINST ME, I`VE GOT A COFFIN WAITIN`, YOU SHOULD BETTER RUN NOW THAT I`VE AWAKEN!  
Woos came from all sides.  
THIS BATTLE YOU WON`T BEAT, I`LL SHOW YOU THE SECRETS OF RAP THAT I`VE KEPT BENEATH! WANT SOME PIZZA? COME AND EAT A PIECE! BUT FIRST THE CHORUS! MAKE IT CHEESY PLEASE!  
“I´ll be your friend, right till the end!” Jeremy took it as his cue to present his favorite melody and THE AUDIENCE LOVED IT! THEY ALL SCREAMED OUT!  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“Don´t be afraid, we´ll find a way!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“Follow the pack, we´ll have a blast!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“I´m here for you, we´ll make it through!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
For a second Old Sport almost lost his face, but quickly readjusted his baggy pants and showed off his ten golden rings per finger, before continuing with his part.  
“Think ya great, don´t you? You can barely stay awake from midnight to noon! But you will see soon, your world is only gloom, I was the last piece for your doom! Secrets in your head never helped you reunite with your dad, I hope your lost family doesn´t make you sad! I´m mad, but glad that you started this bad! Who are you keeping that coffin for, my body is able to ignore- possible death and all the pain and you wanna threaten me? I keep you on a chain- made out of music, wait and see! My rhymes are hot and I´ll tore- through your body right to the core! Keep ´em tearstains, Babyboy, I´m right in your brain, causing you ever more pain! I´m your bane and all your fighting is in vain!”  
The Marionette wasn’t ready to just throw the towel like that and after he flipped back his cappy and the twenty thousand golden chain-necklaces stopped swinging around.  
I WAS AN ANIMATRONIC BUT I BECAME A WEAPON, WITH A PRETTY DARK PAST THAT I AIN´T FORGETTIN´! DON`T MESS WITH ME UNLESS YOU WANT A PAINFUL LESSON, BECAUSE I`M GONNA DISH OUT A BITE LIKE IT`S ´87! YOU`LL NEVER BE SAFE, I`M MADE OUT OF PURE AGGRESSION! IT AIN´T A QUESTION WHY I BECAME AN OBSESSION! I WILL NEVER LET YOU GO, IN CASE YOU DIDN`T KNOW-!  
“I`ll be your friend, right to the end!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“Don´t be afraid, we´ll find a way!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“Follow the pack, we´ll have a blast!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
“I´m here for you, we´ll make it through!”  
“JOIN THE PARTY!”  
Old Sport knew he was cornered, the Marionette hadn´t even really ATTACKED yet, he just was boasting and waiting for his enemy to run out of pathetic attempts to scratch his ego to unleash a finishing verse… a sweat drop ran alongside his face, he had only one option left.  
“SURPRISE TRUMPET SOLO!”  
Wha--  
AND WITH THAT THE SPORT TOOK OUT HIS CURSED TRUMPET AND BEGAN TO NOOT HIS HEART OUT, MAKING EVERYONE IN THE CROWD SCREAM.  
WHERE DID HE EVEN GET THIS FROM?!  
IT`S HORRIBLE.  
MAKE IT STOP.  
The Puppet showed it´s claws, but before he could do anything, the Phone appeared on the stage, giving him a dropkick.  
“THIS IS FOR THE MONEY I`M GONNA HAVE TO PAY IN THERAPY!”  
The crowd went mad and didn´t calmed down again, so Baby decided it might be better to stop the music. “Uh… the winner is… Phone Guy?”  
“Yay! I´m so happy for him! This was a lot of fun!” Happy the boy jumped around.  
The Orange Guy took off the ten sunglasses he was wearing at this point -not on top of each other but spaced out over his face I might add-, while the Marionette took off the baggy clothing that had teleported onto him.  
“Welp, at least I´ve got to be part of my son’s debut! I´m proud of you, Jeremy!” Old Sport picked up and hugged his friend and non-consensual adopted son. “Ice-cream for us all, I´d say! Would you do that Baby?”  
“How could I say no?” She smiled and opened her stomach, to give everyone a big scoop and the Puppet didn´t even complain, instead just stretched his arms out and got himself one. Old Sport sat next to him and smiled.  
“Didn´t know you were such a good rapper!”  
There are many secrets you will never find out about me, Orange Guy.  
“Fucking hell, Puppet, you can´t rap against me and then play all high and mighty again!”  
Yes, I can.  
“Fiiiine…. be an ass…” Pouting Old Sport jumped from the stage, something brushing against the back of his mind, making him uncomfortable.  
He hadn´t seen the dog in a while.  
But that was alright.  
Hopefully.  
Jeremy followed him, curious. “H-hey, Old Sport! I have a question!”  
“Hm?” Some distraction was lovely, especially if it came from the adorable, sm0l Guard. “No problem, but let´s get to the office first.”  
He needed something hot to drink.  
“Okay, can I…?”  
“I meant, let´s go to the office while I ponder your question.”  
“I´ve meant to ask for a while! How… how´s your relationship with Dave?”  
The Orange Guy almost fell over. “Excuse me?”  
“U-uh… I don´t mean to be intrusive, I… I was just a bit curious, s-sorry!”  
“No… it´s fine…” Deeply irritated he stared at the small thing next to him, before beginning to boil water. “Well… me and Dave…”  
Again he had to pause, actually trying to figure out what to say.  
Admittedly he had never thought about this.  
Admittedly he never wanted to think about it.  
Dave wasn´t… Dave´s emotions were simple, usually, but… too simple. Dave would declare his love to a piece of bread or drink, with the same sincerity he told him that he was the most important thing in his life.  
And he himself?  
Yeah… he once gave Dave a small kiss, or rather a peck under the mistletoe, but… that was more for the banter…  
He liked Dave. There was no two ways about it.  
He liked him a lot.  
But he wouldn´t dare to express that.  
Did Dave even understand the concept of love?  
Probably not.  
That thought hurt a little.  
It was to be doubted that the Purple Guy even was capable to feel for another human being beyond the “it´s really fucking nifty to spend time with them, so Imma fuck everyone else over who dares make problems” mark.  
Yes, Dave listened to him and it was obvious that he tried to hold his more violent urges back to stay by his side… that was more due to loneliness though, wasn´t it? A child that was afraid that his parent would just disappear if he misbehaved.  
Also, he could swear that at least at the last location they shut down, if he had acted out of line, Dave would have been PISSED. Maybe even to a point of being dangerous.  
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, or something. Maybe he should be glad that Shadow Doggo pushed him through space and time.  
God, he loved doggos, but that dog was-  
Suddenly he noticed that Jeremy still was watching him, waiting patiently for an answer.  
“We are pretty close, I think. Best friends even.” It wasn´t necessary to mention that they were the only friend the other one had.  
“Best… friends…?” Jeremy appeared a bit surprised, but nodded. “Okay, good to know!”  
“Why did you ask?”  
“Uh… uhm… well…” Slightly embarrassed Jeremy fiddled with his fingers. “You guys… I mean… on Valentine´s day… and… I just…”  
Old Sport just looked at him, slightly baffled. “Yeah?”  
“Uhm… I w-wanted to make… uh… I´m just a very bad, gossip-curious person.”  
“Come on, Jeremy, don´t be so hard on yourself! I understand! After all, I adopted you and of course you´re entitled to know, if our family gets bigger!” Snickering he watched his co-worker being shocked. “I´m pretty sure Dave would dislike Daddy, but if you call him Papi, I´m sure he´ll be fine.”  
Smiling he left his freaked-out “son” behind. Of all his co-workers, Jeremy was most certainly the most pleasant to be around.  
Haunted by the lingering thoughts of Dave´s position to him, he decided to go and take a break in the saferoom. The Spring-Bonnie suit was gone, he wondered what the hell Dave was currently doing, but decided to leave him to it.  
He was probably angering the Phone or something.  
Groaning he allowed himself to slide down the wall and sit on the cold ground, hugging his knees in the process.  
Lately he felt so tired. So emotionally exhausted.  
He couldn´t even explain where it came from.  
Whenever he stopped for just a minute to try and be calm, it instantly swung over into this tired barrage of macabre thoughts. It made him want to skin himself. It made him want to kill more children, just to be busy.  
Had it been always that way?  
Or did the dog curse him?  
Or was it his body screaming out, being forced to exist in this state and hating it?  
The room became from moment to moment greyer.  
Where was Dave?  
Something was pushing him forward, outward, something alien and disgusting-  
The box.  
He wanted to see the box.  
Now.  
He knew where Dave hid it.  
His brain felt cold.  
Was someone there?  
They never talked about what happened before the fire.  
Not that he didn´t understand that, it was just…  
The Foxy-girl. That small ghost had drowned him.  
In that second he felt fear.  
As its giant black shadow fell upon him, he asked himself what it would do. If it could get to the energy he was being fueled on.  
And then… something came to help.  
It drowned him.  
Absorbing that soul drowned him.  
Loosely he remembered the soul burning through his body, trying to escape through his throat…  
Suddenly he felt a slight nudge.  
Alice was looking up to him, confused and worried.  
“A-ah… hey…” Softly he picked her up and hugged her tightly. “You remember still as well, right? I scared you, didn´t I?”  
His body had been on autopilot. He could see but not DO… it felt as if he was pushed down and suffocated, as if he was pulled along by strings…  
What could that have been?  
Probably the soul of the girl?  
But why would she act like that?  
Alice snuggled against him, softly giggling, making clear that she thought everything would be alright.  
He needed the box.  
After petting her lovingly, he decided to excuse himself for the day. Dave would find him if he wanted to and Phoney wouldn´t need him here anyway. With another giggle, Alice placed herself on his shoulders, happily kicking her feet, while Old Sport got ready to search for anyone who could tell his boss where he left to.  
Quickly enough he spotted Mikey, sitting on table drinking something.  
“Mike! My man! Could I ask a favor of you?”  
The Guard shot him a dirty look. “If you´ll fuck off for the rest of the day, then maybe.”  
“How convenient! That´s actually what I was planning to do! Tell your hubby-” With that the glass was shattered ON HIS FACE. Ouch. “-that I´ll be at home for today, since I don´t feel good!”  
Before anything further could happen he bolted off, fleeing towards the entrance.  
Carefully he picked the shards out of his face and mouth, together with Alice´s help, discovering that apparently Mike had been drinking bleach! Neat! A man with a good taste was rare to come by these days!  
Maybe he should make a drinking chart for Mike: Mike drinks water? Fine to talk to! Mike drinks bleach? Keep away at all costs! Mike drinks soda? HOLY FUCK, SOMEONE HAD REPLACED MIKE OR POSSESSED HIM, QUICK, WE NEED TO SAVE HIM!  
Yeah, he should do that. Put that to the tapes with employee tips´n tricks.  
His girl was naturally slightly angry now, letting out a low giggle barrage.  
“C´mon Alice, he is always like that. Plus I kinda provoked him as well…”  
She only huffed and crossed arms and legs. Ah, wasn´t she a cutie?  
Quickly he rushed through the streets, not wanting to see any human being… not today. Today he felt so… angry… from sadness to anger, haha, gotta make sure he wasn´t pregnant!  
Oh no.  
That was a horrible thought.  
This was going on the “things-I-promise-I-will-never-think-again-list” right now, without any hesitation. Right next to anime-foxy, muscular salad bars, marrying and furry roleplays. That can of worms was something he didn´t even want to entertain. In this world, especially as a corpse, you could never know what would happen next.  
At least that thought distracted him for the anger he felt boiling in his veins.  
Maybe it was because he wasn’t at Freddy´s?  
Strange things happen when you stay away from Freddy´s for too long.  
His head felt hot, but he knew he shouldn´t be able to become sick.  
The heat came from somewhere else.  
A short, light touch from Alice brought him back to reality, where he had been standing in front of his door and staring at it for a while.  
“Sorry… got distracted.”  
He opened and entered inside, heading straight for the only room not in use; the attic. His friend was so fearful of whatever was in the box, that he didn´t even keep it INSIDE of the house, but rather on the side of the roof, protected by the heavy steel box.  
Fucking child.  
Ah… that… he didn´t want to think that…  
Shaking the dizziness off, he reached out and got ahold of the metal case, dragging it in. It was protected by two padlocks.  
Feeling again that his body was slipping into autopilot, he put Alice down and got to retrieve the keys.  
After all, William never dared to move them away for too long.  
One was in his workshop, deep beneath the surface, trapping the thief down there to be found and captured.  
The other one was between the blueprints in his bedroom, locked in a secret compartment, hidden away carefully, secret under secret, so the curious may get distracted.  
His… bedroom…?  
The violent nausea returned, rendering him almost unable to breath.  
Without thinking too much, he got ahold of both of them.  
You… need… the… box…  
Alice looked up at him, her black eyes somehow managing to convey fear.  
Not… the… eyes… the… body… and… soul…  
The… body… was… made… for… a… soul…  
“It´s alright Alice, I´m still here.” He said that, but his hands were already busy unlocking the box and opening it.  
Two things.  
A book.  
A machine.  
The book was in a dark shade of pink, almost greyish, without anything else to make it stand out, except quite a lot of papers sticking out upwards.  
The machine looked… weird… It was a thin device, with a short needle at the top and multiple cords connecting the beginning to a chamber at the end. It looked like glass, but somehow Old Sport could swear that it had to be something less fragile. At the top was another metal orb, connected to the transparent one.  
The… pressure…  
Alice, who at first had curiously tried to peek in, hid away as she saw the machine and even Old Sport wanted to scream. This thing… this thing was a nightmare. Something about him just made him want to never touch it. Never.  
Now he could see why Dave wouldn´t want to have that thing inside of the house.  
Idiot…  
His brain was exploding. He should ram that fucking needle into his body and look what happens.  
Alice was trying to pull him away from that thing, but he ignored her.  
It wasn´t important anyway.  
Slowly, in his dreamlike state, he took out the book.  
Henry.  
What was in here?  
The joy of creation.  
Of course.  
Feeling nothing at all, he flipped up a page and began to read.  
  
Cat (need to test on other mammals) violently crushed inside prototype (accident) – approximately twelve hours later the machine activates and reenact the habits of cat.  
Multiple different mammals were tested, depending on amount of violence and time until expiring habits are transferred onto into the mechanical core. Weak A.I. will be overridden to a certain point.  
Need to test on humans.  
  
Yes, that had been Henry´s first thought, hm?  
Test on humans.  
Testing for the sake of seeing, no matter the costs.  
Old Sport flipped the page. 

W. brought them down. Exactly seven hours of keeping them alive inside of the machines, ensuring a bodily connection between the different parts of flesh and metal.  
They move (twenty hours).  
Are obviously able to understand and answer, choose not to. Memories are intact. Personalities are intact. Pain is not registered by them anymore.  
We need to bring them into the establishment after working out how to control them. C. is hostile, L. is accepting as always. C. needs to be kept calm, mixture between simple AI (Musical trigger) and personality might be the solution. Electricity shortly disconnects soul from body, yet it is understandably not useful if animatronic is needed to perform.  
  
Almost laughing, he shook his head. What was wrong with that man?  
Perform.  
How could he even consider…  
He flipped a few pages, landing on one more neatly written one that less appeared like a test log and more like a diary entry. 

The joy of creation.  
The more foolish minds might would call it magic, not understanding of the basic rules of energy. If one must equate magic with anything it might be acceptable to insert it as the origin of the soul itself.  
A “soul” as the core of the human being is a concept far too lackluster researched to be considered safe to ignore. As far as my research has progressed, I can confidently only state this:  
The soul inside of the human body is the one of the core elements ensuring the correct function. With its fascinating ability to apparently be made out of pure energy that a living organism can utilize in case of great need. My studies, while naturally quite sparse, led me to believe that the human soul connects with its body at the age between two to three, an age I determined via the assumption that the “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome” might has ties to a soul without the necessary connection to the fragile body.  
My time is limited and as such this observation will be noted and for now postponed in favor of the usable aspects of the “soul”.  
A soul as the centrum of a human system exhibits itself again and again, as without the “will to live” it is known for human and animals alike to die.  
  
The date stated that a few days has passed, the tone of the next wall of text seemed to indicate the same. 

Energy in its most efficient form, not even exhibiting light or warmth.  
It is able to replace any kind of fuel. (Animatronics defy their lack of energy.)  
Yet, despite those features being impressive, the true worth lies in its inexhaustible nature. The limits are to be reached and carefully tested, but my preferred theory is that the soul might absorb the “lost” energy consisting out of the waste of other processes happening at all times.  
(- Need to test if Animatronic is able to “die”, fire experiment on the sixth of June.)  
The second valuable ability is its perseverance of the personality inside of its core. This self will be transported into a new containment if available and is even able to continue its existence lacking a physical body. (Availability depends on possession – possessed metal will not absorb further souls/Soul will not attach itself) 

A fool (for example dear W.) might need to question what it is functioning as connection, but even to him the answer would be glaringly obvious after five minutes of thinking. The metal. Metal inside of our body, coloring our blood red.  
While, without question, blood takes far more responsibility than only carrying the soul, the multiple functions of the blood only strengthens the foundation of the theory. The ability to carry the important resources makes sense for the fluid that keeps the body alive.  
Even folklore confirms the utility of blood, as contracts sealed with blood are unbreakable (rational seeing as a part of the soul is now connected to the paper) and supernatural creatures often need blood to stay functioning.  
Of course, this is all only banter in my thoughts, since it is not verifiable and as such unscientific.  
I will need to test the ability of the blood.  
William will help.  
  
Oh, dear lord.  
This… explained a lot.  
Did Fredbear do the same to him?  
Using his own blood to… 

Souls attracts souls. Humans cannot exist alone. I stuffed children into the pipes. Tomorrow they will be shipped into the other locations and replace the normal material.  
All buildings will be haunted, awaking in the visitor the desire to return again and again. The children´s souls will call out to their peers and the adults.  
It is necessary to be able to catch more souls.  
More types of souls.  
(- Adult soul needs to be captured, possible by springlocking them? Keep them alive as long as possible in the suit.)  
Someone is needed to take care of the business, while we are busy. Metal-hybrid to keep it alive as long as possible.  
Head removal – replacing it with useful tools.  
Memory manipulation. (A.I. chip of differing strength)  
Need to find a fitting specimen.  
  
Christ. Poor first Phone Guy.  
He flipped through a few pages detailing the restaurant requirements and other weird things, until he came to the page where the machine next to him was detailed. It wasn´t filled with text, but with physical equations.  
  
F(PR)=E(SO)*A  
F(ME)>(E(SO)*s)/(t(TO)*F(HA)

It was pretty much unreadable, especially since it was nowhere explained what things like PR meant.  
On the other side, the side with the sketch though, it was abundantly clear what that thing was.  
(1) Soul-containment, press (5) to open  
(2) Metal lure, attracting soul upwards  
(3) Pressure chamber, soul unable to take ahold  
(4) Needle, pierce the body (Blood not needed, metal to metal contact needed)  
(7) Activate (6), compress soul  
Soul supplant original energy source - Up to twenty buildings – DO NOT OVERUSE  
\- Unable to be used for animatronic - nothing but energy, previous other characteristics vanished  
The definition of life and death in one.  
Inject?  
  
Shuddering he stared at that last note, a note so casual, so nonchalantly written down.  
Inject?  
Should I inject this stolen and crushed soul into a body, a soul that has nothing even resembling itself anymore, only its ability to fuel whatever took ahold of it?!  
Gee, I dunno, Henry, gotta think about this one for a while, how about you stop LITERALLY ERASING PEOPLE FROM THIS PLANET FOR A MINUTE?  
This hit hard, way too hard for him personally.  
That thing was able to erase him in one touch.  
Not kill.  
ERASE.  
Making him vanish.  
Never to be back again.  
The existence of a soul had previously calmed the Orange Guy. It meant that no matter what, you were an individual, capable of staying true to yourself and maybe even decide on your own what you would do after death.  
Okay, not for him, for him there was just no death, but still… this was… could be… his end…  
This was… just the ultimate hateful crime one could commit against humans. Humans that were so fragile, so scared of their place in the world. Humans that only wanted the best and to live and enjoy the few bright moments life had…  
As if it wouldn´t be horrible enough to leave everything behind for one or another reason. But being degenerated to nothing but… an object, without eyes, ears, mouth…  
If a soul would be pressured down like that, could the previous owner still feel something? The void? The ultimate emptiness and terrifying isolation?  
Being forced to experience the nothingness for all eternity?  
Being forced to be nothing and never have any chance to be something ever again?  
He couldn´t bring himself to read anymore for now, his mind was BLEEDING.  
This thing needed to be destroyed, the whole book needed to be destroyed-  
You… will… need… it… for… the… dog…  
Freezing, his glowing eyes shifted to watch the possible weapon again. Would it be able to absorb the cursed creature and make him vanish, never to return again?  
Yes.  
For some reason he knew it was.  
That was inside the box.  
The end.  
The end of the children hunting them.  
The end of everyone opposing them.  
The end of the gods fighting them.  
With that he would be… god… and… tear… apart… reality…  
Endless energy, able to overpower everything, nothing was more valuable than energy in a universe purely made out of it-  
It hurt.  
It hurt.  
Make it stop.  
He didn´t hate the children.  
Even the Foxy-girl.  
He didn´t know what he was doing at that point.  
He thought that slitting his own throat would get her out.  
He prayed that it was right.  
A sob.  
Someone was crying.  
Alice?  
She had fled to the other end of the room, staring at him.  
There was something hot on his cheeks.  
Black drops fell down, disintegrating before even touching the ground.  
He never even got to know her name.  
Or why she attacked him and Mike.  
It had been a while since he felt real regret.  
But what other choice did he have?  
Slowly, the trance started to get ahold of him again.  
If he gave in, he would never have to feel guilty ever again.  
The door opened, making him snap out of it. He sneaked out of the attic, in case it was a burglar, but as soon as he spotted a hint of purple, he made a heart-tearing noise and jumped right at him, hugging him closely. “DAVE!”  
Surprised, rather utterly shocked, Dave tightly hugged him back. “W-what happened?”  
“I… I opened the box.”  
There was only silence after that. Purple Guy understood perfectly well.  
His hand went up to Old Sport´s head, petting him soothingly, while muttering things along the lines of “everything will be okay” and “I´m always here for you”.  
For a while they stayed like that, until finally the harsh pain Orange Guy had felt subsided. “I-I need to put away the box.”  
“I can do it, it´s fine.” Worried Dave pushed his friend back away from the attic, glancing around. “You… You see now why… I don´t want to touch it, right?”  
Silently he nodded, picking up Alice who had followed him down and hugging her tightly as well. She made a half-hearted attempt to escape, but in the end only began to stroke his face as well. Together they watched Purple Guy vanish upwards.  
“I´m… sorry I scared you again, princess.” Sighing deeply, he helped her up on his head, her favorite spot, since she could feel so much taller than everyone else on there.  
Forgivingly she giggled, he could feel her strike a few poses through his hair.  
A moment he pondered if she feared erasure just as much as he did, or if she simply was able to feel the evil radiating from the thing.  
How much did one had to despise life in all its forms to build such a machine?  
If a soul was taking away and forced out of the world…  
Shortly he wondered if people would stop being able to create new life.  
An empty barren planet.  
Filled with nothing but mechanical imitations.  
Was it that what Henry wanted?  
He didn´t want to think about it.  
Henry was gone, Shadow Doggo personally made sure of that.  
Maybe his soul had been compressed there.  
Maybe he deserved such a fate.  
No.  
No one deserved that.  
Dave returned and hugged him again shortly. “Would you rather stay at the restaurant tonight?”  
Thankful he rested his head on his partner´s chest. “I would fucking kill for that.”  
“You won´t have to, Sportsy!” Sounding energetic, an obvious attempt at cheering him up, Dave grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the house, running the whole way with him.  
They entered onto Mike and Phoney having a discussion, but neither of them felt courteous today.  
“PHONEY! We´re gonna take over the nightshift!”  
The two more sane Guards exchanged a look, but PG nodded. “That comes in handy. Mike, let´s go to my place…”  
“Pssst!” Mike became flustered and glanced at Orange Guy, probably seeing his fat grin.  
Confused his friend followed his line of sight and furrowed the brow at Old Sport´s grin. “We´re trying out your gift today, Dave.”  
“Oh, oh, the electric whip? I TOLD you Mike would like that!”  
“No, the screwdriver you maniac!”  
“Ah… boring, but fine. Have fun you two! Don´t let him out of your sight once he regained memories, he might become dangerous!” Cheerful Dave kicked them both out.  
Baby, who had been watching the scene came closer, a happy smile on her face. “If you´re here all night, how about we play a bit? We trained a good routine, but we aren´t all that sure if it works…”  
“Hm…” The psychopath glanced at his friend. “Okay, we´ll try it for a while, but later we should get ourselves a mug of hot chocolate and tell a few stories. Your dad had a rough day.”  
“H-hey, I´m not that fragile-”  
The girl laughed. “No, don´t worry. This is what family is for, right? We´ll have a comfy evening!”  
Old Sport hesitated, but the real happiness of his… more or less adopted family actually managed to break through his pride. He uttered as quietly as possible. “Only if you don´t mind…”  
“Dummy! Of course we don´t mind!”  
“Sportsy, I couldn´t imagine anything better than having you on my lap, scared shitless!”  
Flustered the Orange Guy sighed defeated, a small smile on his lips. “I wanna see how you´re gonna scare me! I´m quite the hardcore guy myself!”  
“Imma tell a story about yiffed foxes!”  
“Oh no!”  
They entered into the office for the first part of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! IMPORTANT STUFF! CHECK THIS ONE OUT: https://www.wattpad.com/story/144433422-doodle-book  
> THIS PERSON IS NOT ONLY GREAT AT DRAWING DAYSHIFT STUFF, THEY ALSO HAVE DRAWN STUFF FROM MY STORIES. THE ONE-SHOTS ON WATTPAD, “A SERIES OF STUPID IDEAS” AND THEY WILL PROBABLY MAKE MORE. I`M SO FREAKING HAPPY ABOUT THIS IF YOU CAN`T TELL AND WANT TO SHARE THE JOY! I DON`T KNOW HOW I DESERVE THIS LUCK, BUT... HOLY HECK!  
> Go and check it out for some quality art!


	27. Open up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It´s finally time to face the past for Simon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, semi interesting information at the end. Otherwise only one thing to say!  
> I HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Silently murmuring swears, Mike followed Simon out of the restaurant. One day, he would have to pay that Orange turd back for this ridiculous, stupid teasing. It wasn´t even as if it was that bad, but today was not the day to push him.  
Shortly he shot a glance at his boss and best friend.  
Today was the day, huh?  
A few days before, he had taken apart an old fashioned phone, in hopes to be better prepared for what was coming, so he could maybe differentiate between what was supposed to be in a phone head and what not.  
Not that it would help. This was more or less not a phone what Simon had on, but rather a designed… a designed torture device, made to isolate and manipulate the poor man that it was placed upon.  
Okay, he was unfair. It DID keep PG alive, but to what prize…?  
Neither of them talked, both far too scared of the next hour to make any type of banter.  
What if he fucked up?  
He could kill of Simon by accident.  
Jesus, why did he even encourage this?  
Because it was obvious that the man was suffering over not knowing what was true and what wasn´t.  
Once more he sighed.  
This had to be done.  
He would have to be careful. No cords would be separated until he was sure where they led to. Nothing would be broken.  
Christ, he had to calm down.  
“Simon?”  
“Yes?”  
“What are you going to do, once you know what happened to your brother?”  
“Search for him, I guess. There´s just no way I can ignore it if he´s still out there… but I don´t know how I would get that past the factory.”  
And if he´s dead, they would probably visit his grave. This time he didn´t need to ask.  
“I´m sure we´ll find a way.”  
“… I don´t know. I´ve talked to the head of the factory in person and she didn´t appear pleased with what I´ve done and especially that I´ve managed to get away with it.”  
“If push comes shove, we´ll just be on the run and escape them!”  
“You sound awfully excited about that.”  
“Well… first off: No more Freddy’s, secondly no more killer robots, thirdly no more Dave and Orange Guy.”  
“Wow, that sounds like a great deal! Catch being that we will probably die, never know if tomorrow will be our last one, never know if we´ll get attacked- wait. That sounds and awful lot like Freddy´s.”  
Slightly chuckling at this rather bleak outlook on their future, Mike decided that it was time to accept that whatever awaited them would happen, no matter what.  
They entered Simon´s home and the Phone didn´t hesitate one second to pull out the oddly shaped screwdriver. “I´m ready.”  
“You mean, your body is ready?”  
“Yes.”  
“Uh… that was supposed to be a joke…”  
“Hurry up, I can´t wait any longer, I´m going insane.”  
“I don´t feel comfortable with your word choice.”  
“I don´t feel comfortable with how much time you take! Do you want to help me, or do you just want to feed your dirty mind?”  
“I don´t have a dirty mind! Christ, calm down! I´m fucking here already!” Using some of the leftover anger he always seemed to be storing inside of his body, he stepped forward and began to screw at the back of the metal plates, taking it off with ease.  
PG was giggling, nervously. “This must be the equivalent to having an open brain surgery… and out of ALL people, you´re my doctor.”  
“What´s that supposed to mean? I could have become a doctor if it weren´t for my anger issues!”  
“You still have those anger issues, may I remind you?”  
“Shut your fucking mouth, or I´ll rip something connected to the speakers out!”  
“So, you can see were everything leads to?”  
“… More or less?” Mike skeptically glanced at the mess of parts. This was a fucking chaos, how the hell could he find out what it was that blocked PG´s memories?  
“Great! What is the block?”  
“I… I´ll take a closer look for that one.” Carefully the Guard pushed a few cables aside. “Do… do you feel that?”  
“No? Mike, those are my insides, I have NO NERVES there.”  
“How unnerving…”  
“Was that a pun?!”  
“No, it´s called wordplay. God, you have got some NERVE to just snap like that.”  
“I will now stop acknowledging your existence.”  
“Really? Now I´m getting nervous.”  
“I´m feeling pain from this bullcrap, my head is probably going to explode at any minute!”  
“Fine, fine, I´ll stop…”  
For another minute or two, Mike rummaged around, trying to figure out what was there to ensure his friend´s mere existence and what was there to control him. After a while he spotted a particularly suspicious looking box. “I think I´m onto something… there´s this weird… thing. It´s separated from all the cables, so it seems important.”  
“That might be my chip. It needs extra protection, since it keeps my functions under control.”  
“Are you sure about that?”  
“It´s what I was told…”  
“That´s what I would tell my victims, if I didn´t want them to figure out how to free themselves.”  
“Only one way to find out!”  
“What?”  
“Take it out!”  
“Are you suicidal!?”  
“The robots work without a brain, I can too!”  
“Uhm… I don´t think that is how it works.”  
“Either you take it out right now, or I´ll take it out myself.”  
“How you´re gonna do that if I´m here to stop you?”  
“ARE YOU PART OF THE CONSPIRACY?!”  
“Wait, what?”  
“Listen. Mike. I´m pretty darn scared right now. I just want it to be over, I want to get this done.”  
“I won´t just allow you to kill yourself out of impatience!”  
“But you said it yourself: Where else could the block be? I need to be able to survive without my chip, why else would there be the option to remove it?”  
For another minute, Mike paused. “If you die…”  
“I won´t!”  
“I said IF you die, you should know that… t-that…” Mike slightly cursed his mushy feelings. “… You were the best friend that I ever had…”  
“… Come on, now you´re just making me needlessly nervous.”  
“Here goes nothing… are you ready?”  
“FOR HECK`S SAKE, I SAID I WAS, I-”  
With that Mike ripped out the chip, managing to get it out in one good swoop. He stared at the piece of mechanic in his hand, not daring to look at Simon.  
Thankfully, soon enough he heard laughter from him.  
“A-are you alright? Simon?” Did his partner just snap?!  
“Sorry, Mike- it´s just-” Again he interrupted himself through a hysterical laughter.  
“Calm down, what´s wrong?!”  
“Just… just… McCall…”  
“What? Could you explain what THE FUCK is going on?!”  
“My name! It´s… Simon McCall…” The man had sat up again, giggling helplessly, before clutching his head again. “A-argh… it… hurts…”  
“Simon McCall. Are you fucking-”  
“IAN!”  
This time the more cynical one decided to make no comment and simply stared at Phone Guy´s break down. The poor guy was screaming.  
“IAN, IAN, IAN, IAN!” Simon as sobbing, even if he shouldn´t be able to. He was hugging his own legs, rocking back and forth.  
Slowly and hesitant, Mike sat down next to him and after another moment of doubt, hugged him for a while.  
It took an eternity for him to calm down. The other one didn´t know what to say. It was pretty obvious that Ian was dead and probably not in a very peaceful manner.  
Should he ask where to go to visit his grave?  
Should he ask what happened?  
Would that make things much worse?  
Time passed, until the constant hiccup of his friend stopped. They stayed silent though.  
Finally, Phone Guy began explaining, not moving his body away from Mike, not even looking up, still hiding in his jacket.  
“We won´t have to search for him. I killed him.”  
“Wait, what, excuse me?!”  
“I sent him to Freddy.”  
“You…”  
“I didn´t…” For a moment it appeared as if he was going to break down again, but his shaky breaths kept consistent. “He was depressed, clinical. We couldn´t afford to get him help. I couldn´t afford it, even if I wanted more than anything else. I was… saving up for it… until then I vowed to keep him always around me, so he wouldn´t… hurt himself. I tried to keep him safe. At Freddy´s. Haha. Anyway, I kept him around, trying to entertain him as Spring-Freddy. It didn´t always work, but it was better than nothing. One day though, I… I had to go and clean the bathrooms and… he wanted to leave. I begged him to stay. I told him to go to Freddy and talk to him for a bit, or at least watch the show.”  
Another pause ensued, one Mike didn´t dare to interrupt until Simon continued on his own.  
“I was halfway done when I heard the screaming. Came out to check. The stage. Freddy… Freddy had bitten through his head.” Now the shaking returned, worse than before. “I´m pretty sure he put his own head in there. I´m pretty sure he used Freddy to kill himself. Because I left him on his own. Because I told him about the incidents that happened. I told him that they were able to do that. I gave him that idea.”  
“Stop spouting NONSENSE! You couldn´t fucking know it, could you?! How INSANE has someone to be to try animatronic-suicide?! That´s nothing you could have foreseen!”  
“BUT I SHOULD HAVE!”  
“NO! STOP FEELING GUILTY ABOUT IT!”  
“STOP BEING ANRGY WITHOUT ANY REASON! DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW I FEEL?!”  
“YES, COINCIDENTLY I DO! AND IT`S RETARDED!”  
For the first time that they knew each other Phone Guy punched him, right in the face. “YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!”  
Slowly the Guard raised his hand to the burning part of his face, noticing a bit of blood coming from his nose. Not sure on what to feel, he looked up at Phone Guy´s face and for a split second he was sure he saw a real human head there, tears streaming down it, red and contorted in anger and sadness.  
For a split second he saw himself sitting there, with raised fists. “I´m… I´m so sorry. I… I shouldn´t have said that.”  
Phone Guy let his fists back down, shaking his head, without saying a word.  
For a while, the Guard tried to find the right words. “I… It´s… It really isn´t your fault. There was nothing you could have done. Horrible things happen to good people, horrible things happen all the time. There´s no one who could change that… and… I know how hard it is to accept that. I´ll- I´ll leave you to it.”  
“Just shut your fucking mouth and don’t move.” Simon hid in Mike´s shoulders. “I wish I did´t know this. I-I wish… I wish this would all go away again.”  
“Should… I get the chip?”  
“No. It´s useless. I… I remember so much now. I remember talking to those other chipless Phone Guys who were telling me things about… about the factory… Oh dear god, Ian´s head was only mush. Red disgusting-”  
“Simon.”  
“I know, I-I should… they reuse the metal, merging souls-”  
“Simon! Try to…”  
“WHAT? TRY TO WHAT?! SUPRESS THIS?!”  
Helpless Mike once more hugged him tightly, hating himself for not being able to help. Phoney on the other hand began to laugh.  
“They had all kind of names! All kinds of Phones! Melting the head… melting them… they say the factory has an alarm for the chip. They say the factory is a living being. They say the factory has a soul for itself…” The man was probably only laughing, because he didn´t want to scream.  
“Those are rumors!”  
“Y-yeah… yes, you´re right. My head is my own. My head is my own. My head is my own. I´m so sorry, Mike.”  
“What?! WHY?”  
“It´s horrible to not know if you´re really fully yourself.”  
“You…”  
“That´s what it is, right? Metal in your head-”  
At this point Mike wasn´t sure about who he was talking and so decided to better stay neutral.  
“Those delusions, are they you, are you them, who´s real, who isn´t, do you act like this because you want to or because it forces you to?”  
“Please, you aren´t making sense-”  
“Do you think Freddy absorbed Ian´s soul?”  
“I- What´s that for a question?”  
“Imagine that! HAHA! IMAGINE! JUST WANTING TO DIE! AND BECOMING IMMORTAL! HAHAHAHAHA!”  
“SIMON!” Enough was enough and he grabbed the hysterical guy at the shoulders. “THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND!”  
“OUT OF THE HAND INTO THE HEAD, BUT WHAT`S WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NO HEAD?! APPARENTLY IT RUNS IN MY FAMILY!”  
Helpless Mike began shaking him. “Simon! I need you here! Don´t- Don´t let it overtake you!”  
The laughter was still there, but it now sounded far more like sobbing again, while PG was shivering, trying to get control over his breath again. “Ha…ha… s-since when would YOU… say something… need someone… ha…ha…”  
“Fucking hell, please… please, Simon, get your shit together. I would be lost without you here.”  
“Ha… ha. Y-you´re the worst.”  
“Why- I mean, yeah.”  
“You´re always… so… such an asshole…”  
“Hey, I wasn´t the one trying to befriend you…”  
“Right, right, you´re… just pretending to be my friend, aren´t you?”  
“WHAT? COME ON, PG, I AIN`T A MONSTER!”  
“Mike… my brother is dead.”  
The man suppressed a “and my mother is dead too”.  
“That´s why I let him Springtrap me. That´s why I´m here.”  
“… yeah…?”  
“For a new beginning. And what did I do with it?”  
“You created a fairly safe Freddy´s?”  
“You think…?”  
“As safe as these place can be, in my opinion.”  
“Do you think… Ian… would like it…?”  
“Probably.” How would he know?  
“You´re… one hell of a guy…”  
“… thanks…? Listen, I´m really sorry ab-”  
“Can I sleep in the same room as you tonight?”  
Fucking hell, how could he say no without coming off as a total monster? “… It´s alright.”  
“Haha, your expression… I´ll sleep on the ground, getting myself a mattress or something…”  
“If you wanted, you could—it´s… fine…”  
“Look at yourself!” Laughing exhausted, Simon shook his head. “No. You wouldn´t like it. You hate it already.”  
“I said it´s fucking fine!”  
“And I said no!”  
“YOU`RE GONNA SLEEP IN THE SAME FUCKING BED AS ME.”  
“Christ, no means no, Mike! Buy me dinner first!” His laugh sounded a little less hysterical, but pretty desperate.  
“I--- you--- FUCK! As if I care, sleep wherever you want!” Fully red in the face, the sensitive guy jumped up and let to the bedroom he used the last two times. “ANYWAY, I`LL SLEEP NOW. NIGHT.”  
Following him, Phone Guy dragged a mattress into the room and laid down on it, cuddling into the blankets, while desperately trying to not let his mind wander back to the crushed head and the blood dribbling down the snout…  
It was… how long had it been? He couldn´t even remember the year. All he remembered was this numb feeling. This endless numbness after seeing him die. If he remembered correctly, his first break-down had been in the factory. Once he learned that he wasn´t allowed to follow Ian and pay for his mistake.  
The factory was a strange place.  
The chipless and the “broken” were held in the same quarters, at least until they got chipped or… got rid of. Usually, the metal would get reused as often as possible. The more often a metal was used, the better-behaved the Phone Guys turned out as more and more minds weakened each other and distracted one another.  
His metal was probably pretty new. Yes, there were a few memories in there that didn´t add up, probably of a few other Phone Guys before him, but they were weak and far away.  
The stories of the “broken” Phone Guys were pretty unpleasant as well. One talked about a birthday party he did for killed children, to appease the spirits or something… thing being that he had killed a fresh batch of children himself.  
Another talked about his “urges”. He only spoke once to him, he disgusted him.  
One other simply stated that he tried to protect his friend and employee. He was the one who looked the saddest.  
Some chipless avoided them, some listened to all of their story, fearing to do the same mistake. He had been one of the listeners. Maybe that was the reason he could “remember” so many things of other places.  
More and more stories flooded his brain and while he was happy they weren´t his fault, it still made his stomach turn that he was capable of those things.  
Shortly he wondered how much time has passed. Restless he rolled around in the sheets, asking himself if it had been the right idea to force the hand of fate and open his eyes. Now he didn´t move forward one bit and even felt worse than ever before. Guiltier than he ever could have been without his thoughts.  
So, that was him. Simon McCall, taking care of his sick brother, all on his own, without being able to ask anyone for help. No wonder he worked at Freddy´s. Though, when he thought back, he seemingly was excited about working with kids.  
Silently laughing at himself, he asked himself how he could overlook all the ungrateful toddlers of the world.  
Maybe he was just far too positive back then.  
Again he turned, feeling himself freezing.  
He never felt this lonely ever before.  
All of a sudden, there was movement next to him and someone- who are we kidding- Mike joined him under the blanket. Neither of the said anything, but the warmth already was enough to make that pain in his chest feel better.  
Thank you, Mike.  
Slowly he began thinking about their time together and became more and more tired, until he drifted off.  
Hours later, another day, another place, someone else was entering the restaurant. It was Jeremy, who came WAY too early, because he had forgotten a few things and didn´t want to risk Phone Guy accidently throwing it away.  
Marion was still sleeping in his bag where he placed him… he was glad that the animatronic didn´t have any more nightmares. It hurt to see the creature suffering.  
Slowly he sneaked into the darkened establishment, hoping not to scare the current Nightguard. Who was even at duty this evening?  
Quickly he spotted Dave, who was sitting on the stage with Baby and Old Sport. The Orange Guy was lying on his partner´s lap, apparently sleeping, while said partner was again and again stroking over his hair.  
Friendly waving Jeremy walked over to them, greeting him silently.  
The Purple Guy smiled at him, relaxed in a way he never had seen him before. “Jerry-Berry! Whatcha doing here this early?”  
“I forgot some stuff!”  
“Hm… so it was your bag… sorry, the Minireenas got to it and searched a little… I think they might judge you for whatever was in there.”  
“Uh… I think it´s okay. You seem happy!”  
“Hm…” Smiling even wider, Dave´s attention turned back on Old Sport. “Say… Jeremy… did you ever feel the need to hurt someone, because you love them so much?”  
“No…? That doesn´t sound really… healthy?”  
“You know… wanting to see him broken, scared and sad so you can make it all better? So he trusts you more?”  
“If he finds out, he won´t trust you for any longer…”  
“But… just… he´d understand… he just needs to learn how much better it is. You know, see the pain as a reminder that I am the one keeping him safe.”  
“I really think that would be wrong, sir.”  
Dave looked up and stared at him, expressionless, before giving him his typical goofy smile. “You´re a bit too young to understand anything about that, kiddo! On a completely unrelated note, I´ve made some improvements to your animatronic! It´s almost done~”  
“Really?! Can I see it soon?”  
“You´ve gotta escape your puppet-friend first.”  
“Escaping is a bit of a harsh word, but the sentiment is clear! I´ll see what I can do!” Skipping off, he tried to find the smaller bag. While the thing wasn´t where he last left it, giggles out of the vent next to him gave him a hint.  
“Hello? Minireenas? Do you hear me?”  
More giggles were the answer and Jeremy smiled glad, he loved how cute and happy they always were.  
“Could you tell me if my bag is in there?”  
Loud giggles and a bit of banging from something heavy being moved in there was all he needed to know.  
“Would you be so nice and bring it out again, please?”  
Silence. Oh.  
“There are things that I like a lot in there, so would you pretty please give it back? If you tell me what of those things you want to keep, I promise I´ll bring you something similar tomorrow!”  
First only one small laugh sounded, then the laughs piled up and interrupted each other. Jeremy was sure they were discussing with each other and not laughing at him. A while passed and the laughter died down. Suddenly, the air vent was kicked out and revealed a passage, big enough to enter.  
“Should I go and get it myself?”  
Silent laughter in the distance. Sighing in defeat, he carefully placed his bigger bag onto the ground, so Marion wouldn´t wake up and got down to climb in-  
Before he could do so, something jumped on his back.  
Another Minireena! Alice!  
Alice actually wore different colored clothing from the others, as far as he understood she was proud of being part of Old Sport´s and Dave´s family instead of Ballora´s.  
She climbed over him and gave him a kick to the nose, before vanishing inside. Confused Jeremy waited and listened to the loud giggling going on, until finally, after five minutes, the small animatronics threw the bag out.  
Alice stood in the opening rubbing her hands satisfied and laughed confident.  
“Thank you so much Alice!” After a short check-up it turned out that everything was where it belonged and he offered her a hand to climb on. “Do you know why they did it?”  
The girl sat on his shoulders, crossed her legs and shrugged, seemingly a bit angry. What the human couldn´t know was that she WAS very pissed.  
There was a corpse in there and that wasn´t the only problem. It was horrible enough that she hasn´t been the one that ended that guy´s life, now no one wanted to clean it up! She should later talk to Freddy, he enjoyed having rotting corpses inside of him… though Ballora would probably complain about the smell and give her a lecture on the danger of giving Freddy a corpse.  
Sighing she leaned into the soft hair of her ride. She didn´t think it was a good idea to bring someone in right from the get-go. Not because she didn´t like the killing, but rather because she didn´t think it was the right thing to cheer her dad up.  
Whenever he killed someone, he seemed to take it so… personal. He was so angry, so spiteful. So unlike his usual self.  
They returned to the stage, where Baby was currently explaining her new idea for a show, something Alice had not time for. Interrupting them, she explained that they couldn´t leave a corpse in the air vents, it would smell horrible and be found.  
Awkward Baby shot Jeremy a look. “Calm down, Alice, we´ll… we can clean up behind us, no worry…”  
Dave shot up. “Right! Shit, Phoney is gonna castrate me!”  
Waking up due to the sudden movement, Orange Guy whined and grabbed onto his partner, who instantly was sitting again, preventing him from falling completely. “Sorry, Sportsy, was a bit distracted…”  
“Ugh… what´s the time…?”  
“Clean-up-time!”  
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuck… how do we get into the vents…?”  
“Vents?” Jeremy smiled at them, clearly unsure of what had happened.  
Dave only shook his head. “The Minireenas made a mess in there, so… Sportsy, stay with the kids, I´ll go and take a look at how bad it is.”  
“Probably nothing a flamethrower can´t solve…”  
“GREAT IDEA! I´ll be back in a minute, just you wait!” With that Purple Guy skipped off, leaving Old Sport to rub his eyes and sit up. Smiling at Jeremy, he patted next to him on the stage, inviting to sit beside him.  
Happy to do so, the boy sat down. “What did you do yesterday? I haven´t seen you after we talked, I hope I didn´t… made you uncomfortable…?”  
“Aww, Jerry-Berry, you´re a sweetheart! I just had a bad day and felt sick… you know, nothing out of the ordinary. People sometimes have that.”  
“Did Dave take good care of you?”  
Suspicious Old Sport eyed the boy, wondering what the H E L L he was asking- but maybe he was just becoming paranoid and overly sensitive. “What happens if I say no?”  
“Well, first I wouldn´t believe you, but if you were serious I would go and scold the HECK out of him! There is no excuse to not take care of you!” He stemmed his arms into his sides and huffed.  
Snickering the Orange Guy imagined Dave going full on psycho, killing everything that comes too close and Jeremy just suddenly stepping up to him and pouting, screaming ´DAVE MILLER, I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.´  
Well, wasn´t that a bundle of joy?  
Or a bundle of depression when the crazy man just pushed the knife into him again and again.  
Slightly worried he took the cap of the boy´s head and ruffled his hair, making him laugh and meekly protest against that treatment. “I´m an adult, Old Sport!”  
“Shush, for that lie I should clean your mouth with soap!”  
“Nooooo! I´m not a liar! After all, I earn my own money, take care of my own home and even defended my life at one point and another!”  
Well… that was true. The kid has gone through a lot and even though he was very lucky, not all of it came down to chance- He deserved to be treated with a bit more respect…  
BUT HE WAS JUST TOO CUTE FOR THAT!  
Old Sport jumped to hug and snuggle the small human affectionate, but a snarl from inside of his bag made him quickly let go of him again. Geez, Puppet-man had no chill.  
Suddenly, a sweet, but slightly obnoxious melody was audible and Jeremy surprised took out his phone. “Oh, it is our boss! Just a second… Hello?”  
But instead of the usual “Hello, hello?” it was Mike´s voice that greeted him.  
“Sorry, Jerry, you gotta take over duty for today, Simon is a bit…”  
“MIKE GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!”  
“Did you say hell?”  
“YES I DID, BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT THIS IS!”  
“You ain´t going to the restaurant today, I´d rather shove a pineapple down my nose.”  
“MIKE, I SWEAR, I HAVE A TASER IN MY POCKET-“  
“And here I was, thinking you were just happy to see me. WAIT, fuck, I have a better one: Is that a threat or an invitation?”  
“MIKE- Y-YOU- YOU HOOLIGAN! FOR GOD`S SAKE, I AM FINE!”  
“No you´re not, you woke up screaming and I won´t let you go to that hellhole while you´re mentally deficient.”  
“THAT`S FOR ME TO DECIDE!”  
“Not anymore.”  
“I WILL GET IN TROUBLE!”  
“They won´t know you didn´t come into work, will they?”  
“I DON`T KNOW AND I DON`T WANT TO RISK IT! JEREMY, IF YOU HEAR ME, PLEASE SEND HELP-“  
“Oh no, you have to take care of the place before it explodes, which it probably can, let´s be honest.”  
“Mike, I will KILL you, failing that, you get your pay cut.”  
“Whatever helps you sleep at night- you would NEED that. Anyway, Jerry, just play manager for today. PG is going to send you all the information on booking per mail, so check every hour or so.”  
“MIKE STOP DECIDING WHAT I`M GOING TO DO-!”  
“We MIGHT be back tomorrow-“  
“MIGHT?!”  
“- so don´t worry!”  
“WORRY A LOT, JEREMY! IF DAVE AND ORANGE GUY FIND OUT THAT I`M NOT ENFORCING THE RULES TODAY-“  
“They won´t, chill out!”  
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?!”  
“They seem to be keen on not getting fired, they haven´t risked it before too much, so…”  
“IF THEY DO-“  
“If cows can fly, we gonna be worried, but now sit the FUCK back down.”  
With that the line was cut and Jeremy was left utterly confused.  
The Orange Guy next to him grinned widely, activating one of the few alarm bells that Jeremy had in his mind. “P-please don´t get us in trouble! Mr. Phone Guy is going to be upset!”  
“Aw, but that isn´t my problem, right?”  
“Please, please, please, I will bake you cookies!”  
“Hm… sounds alright… if I get something else for as well.”  
“Anything!”  
“Pff, be careful with that kind of answer! I actually want something from Marion.”  
The animatronic looked out of the bag, his light dots small and aggressive, but he was listening at least.  
Whatever could you want from me?  
He smiled a dirty, dark smile.  
“Isn´t it obvious? I… want…” He leaned forward and suddenly began screaming. “YOU GOTTA PLAY WITH ME, I TAKE A ROPE AND WRAP IT AROUND YOU AND THEN I`LL GO AND STAND ON A BOARD WITH WHEELS UNDER IT AND WE`RE GONNA SCARE THE SHIT OUT OF PEOPLE AND GO REALLY, REALLY FAST!”  
I will NOT subject myself to humiliation like that!  
“But… you can try to throw me off? If you hit the ball pit I might even die!”  
The creature floated upwards and crossed his arms… that aspect was almost appealing and together with Jeremy´s begging face he was powerless.  
Alright. But I WILL throw you down.  
“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! TRY AS MUCH AS YOU WANT, MY FRIEND-SPAGETH! THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!”  
Friend-Spageth…!?  
But Old Sport was already running off, screaming for no reason at all and being WAY too excited in general.  
Jeremy petted his friend. “Sorry… I didn´t expect the call to be this important…”  
You are just foolish, Jeremy! You should be glad I´m patient enough to take care of you…  
“I am! I´m really grateful for all you did for me! Thank you, Marion!” Tightly he hugged his mechanical friend, who calmed down and mentally groaned in defeat. This boy would be the death of him, so much was clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was defeated and now have a tumblr for bullshit and asks. Maybe you´ll find some enjoyment from that horrible idea of mine. Warning, I can´t draw for shit, but the person I mentioned last time will provide pictures if you want them.  
> https://lucarioisinthevoid.tumblr.com/  
>   
> Now, this is especially interesting for you, since you can get a quick fix there… the next chapter(s) might be harmless, short filler – my exams are going on and I never felt so constantly exhausted in my life. Sorry if it´s disappointing, but hey, short chapters are better than no chapters, right?  
> Currently thinking about making them story-relevant but focused on the smaller characters… your pick! You could even request what character I focus on with the short chapter!  
> Quick shout-out to “Borf”, because of your regular comments… I´m really thankful for them! :3


	28. You must be this tall to be responsible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAlice is doing stuff.   
> What?  
> Expected more?   
> I´m already DEAD, stop with those EXPECTATIONS!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick something! Writing this like… four days before it´s due, but next chapter will be long again.   
> *Cough* Maybetellingmewhatyouwouldhavelikedtoseewouldhavespeduptheprocess *cough*  
> I´m not lonely! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?

The Funtimes.   
Achievements on a technical standpoint.   
But all of it could have never been done, without HER.   
The leader.   
The first one.   
The ORIGINAL Funtime.   
So why did no one respect her?!  
Alice sat on the table, crossing her arms.   
Yeah, alright, she was a bit SMALL compared to Baby, but she was the reason Baby existed in the first place!   
But everyone acted as if she was the leader of the group!   
WHO was allowed to run around freely, inside AND outside of the place?   
Sure as hell not Baby!   
And now, she had been pouting for an HOUR, without anyone even asking what was wrong… just because she had no facial expressions, didn´t mean she was always happy!   
So, after about another ten minutes she just decided to cheer herself up. With her dad being busy, she would have to come up with something on her own…  
With that she jumped up and walked towards the nearest air vent, as walking around on the ground was a hassle when you were small. It was just more comfortable to be able to walk around without watching out constantly for stomping feet. The whole place was crowded and seeing it through the small gaps made her hum in satisfaction, after all it was basically her place!   
And nothing was sweeter than having a whole chaotic horde of people you can work with!   
First though…   
She sneaked towards the parts and services room, where she found her favorite guard to bother, Mike Schmidt!   
While he was busy working on Bonbon, who was probably currently trying to kill him, while he tried to snatch the power core. “YOU FUCKING BLUE BITCH, STOP WHERE THE FUCK YOU ARE!”   
The room had been darkened, so he could use his flashlight to repel it, before it came too dangerously close, but that was the perfect situation for Alice to sneak in and jump onto his face… a fact she OF COURSE abused instantly. Not to kill him, NO, but just to provide a neat, fun challenge!   
Mike just overreacted, like always.   
“FOR FUCK´S SAKE, YOU ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE, STOP TRYING TO KILL ME-“   
Giggling she looked at his eyes that narrowed so quickly and began to shift around everywhere, trying to find the bunny again and quickly managed to flash it in time. Bonbon laughed as well, having now way more fun than before, as the game has been changed up a bit in his favor.   
“I AM GOING TO SMASH YOU LITTLE BITCHES INTO PIECES AS SOON AS I GET FUCKING AHOLD OF YOU TWO!”   
More laughter from both of them.   
Suddenly Mike turned silent and waited for his chance, a fact that brought Alice to laugh a bit more… she could respect the Guards who were trying their hardest to survive. It was cute. Bonbon seemingly thought so as well, as he made a small, delighted noise-   
Mike turned in a flash and grabbed the bunny keeping it firmly in his grasp. “GOT YOU, FUCKER! NOW, STOP MOVING YOU CUNT!”   
Alice crawled on top of Mike´s hat, to have a better view on the situation. Despite his previous threats, Mike simply removed the power core and carefully unscrewed the being, finding a shitton of bonbons inside.   
For a while he just stared. “Is this place fucking taking the piss?”   
The little animatronic on his head just snickered in agreement.   
“Oh, shut your mouth, this isn´t funny.” Quickly he took out the candy and put the machine back together according to the blue prints at his side. “Now I gotta go back to the hellbear and fucking attach that shit again…”   
The small Ballerina gave a short hum in response, wondering if Mike noticed that he was basically talking to one of his enemies, a MUTE enemy at that! That man needed a few more friends.   
This was getting boring, now that it didn´t involve the possibility of bloody murder anymore.   
Quickly she jumped down and vanished through the crowd towards the nearest air vent again, pondering what to do… maybe she should take over the world!   
Yeah, that sounded sensible.   
TO THE NUKES!   
But… where were those?   
They HAD nukes, she was sure of it, at this point they had to be in a cold war with Candy´s… right? Actually- should she infiltrate Candy´s?  
Nah, too much of a hassle.   
Nukes first!   
Baby probably knew where they kept the good stuff, even if she was younger, she had a better… overlook over the place. As fast as she could she traveled towards the stage, jumping onto it as soon as she had the chance. Jumping up and down, Baby finally paid attention to her and crouched down.   
“Alice!” She sounded happy about her visit. “What can I do for you?”   
With many complicated movements, the small Ballerina tried to explain that she needed dem nukes.   
For a while Baby stared at her, trying to get the message, until she lighted up. “You want… ice cream! Wait a minute, I´ll be right- no?”   
Franticly shaking her head, Alice tried again to explain with hand and feet what she wanted.   
“You… search for… Balloons? I´m sorry, I don´t really get it…”   
Frustrated Alice made a throw-away movement and walked away. Foxy would probably understand better, after all that thing was mute as well.   
When she finally found the animatronic, it took a LOT of jumping to get the attention from the movement activated creature, but finally it stopped and moved closer, excitedly whining at her. Good start?   
Once more she began her movements, explaining that she was searching for the nukes.   
Foxy began to imitate her movements, with a questioning look and it felt as if they were finally getting somewhere! Nodding along, she laughed relieved and paid close attention as Foxy began its own movements.   
Right up, left, left, right down, down in the middle, right, turning in a circle-   
On no. The fox had made a fucking game out of this and wasn´t actually attempting to tell her where to go.   
Groaning she left. Maybe Freddy would understand her.   
Indeed, when she arrived and did her explaining, while Bonbon was frowning and ready to say something stupid, Freddy perked up. “T-THE- T-THE NU-NUKES?! Yeah, we got-got-got some! B-Ballora should- should know!”   
Giving the helpful animatronic a hearty thumbs-up, before jumping away, she hasted over to Ballora. Really, that woman was… okay. It was a bit obnoxious that she was thinking she was responsible and in control of all the other Minireenas… but, she really was only doing what she though was best. Of all the others, she was the one Alice could ALMOST respect.   
As she arrived at her show stage, it was in the middle of a show… she would have to wait. Damn it! Now she was bored again!   
With a small sigh she climbed the stage and sat at the edge of it, staring at the crowd that had gathered, the usual mix of young and old and-  
TEENAGERS!   
Oh, HELL yeah!   
Not just ANY teenagers, those looks like GOTHS!  
WITH MAKE-UP AND EYELINER AND SHIT!  
Jesus, you had to be really angsty to visit Freddy´s as a teen, but THIS- THIS WAS AMAZING!   
NOTHING WAS BETTER THAN FUCKING UP ANGSTY TEENS!   
Now, now, no time to waste! How could she make this hell for them?!  
First she had to pick her victim… it would be the worst of them, the one completely colored white and wearing a scarf indoors! HOW EDGY CAN YOU GET?! DELIGHTFUL!   
Sneaking up on them, Alice snickered.   
Time to unleash hell on those teenagers who were just searching for a place to fit in and orientation for their future!   
Her attack began by using the earing of one of them as some sort of sport handle, making that guy shout out in pain and jumped onto the shoulder of the next guy, stealing his choker or whatever that thing was called, before dashing off into the crowd.   
“COME BACK!” She could hear his scream and how he was trying to part the crowd to get to her in time, now thankful for her size. Yeah, it made running around more dangerous, but faster! For a while she darted through the place, until she found a nice bag where she put the hat into. Have fun finding that one- without being seen as a thief!   
Next! Using a mixture of water and pure determination, she began smashing some gum and put it into a blowgun and returned to the stage, where she began shooting at the one with the most luscious hair- getting an instantaneous reaction.   
“WHAT- WHAT THE FUCK?! WHO`S DOING THIS?! COME OUT!”   
Ah, if she was asked THIS nicely… she skipped towards them, waving.   
“YOU LITTLE- COME HERE, I`LL BREAK YOU!” The kid was dashing after her, his friend not able to hold him back as they both disappeared in the crowd. Luring him towards Freddy´s funhouse, she spent at least half an hour there, appearing and disappearing again, using the mirror to her advantage.   
She stood there, giggling at the guy, who was screaming and charging at her, walking right into the glass, getting a nasty nosebleed from it. THAT`S WHAT YOU GET FROM THINKING THAT EXISTENCE IS PAIN AND NOTHING MATTERS!   
Or at least, from going against your own morals!  
Finally having enough, the guy tried to leave- noticing he was in a maze.   
Her job here was done. Now to the last kid, the most angsty of them all… the king of goth, the edgemaster- his vanity shall be punished!   
Knowing what to do, she prepared her last trap and returned to the stage, where the goth actually still was waiting for his friends. With a small laugh she got his attention, but he only raised an eyebrow.   
“I dunno if you think you´re funny or… whatever, but you’re just a cunt, you know? Like… what the fuck did this do for you?” He sounded almost completely apathetic.   
Hm… she thought she would get hunted around directly… but what else was there to be expected from the king of gothness? So, she flipped him off.   
For a while he stared at her raised middle finger, before turning his focus back to the stage, uttering. “Fucking whatever.”   
Huh. That didn´t work. Carefully she stepped closer and pretended to be ashamed. After having his attention again, she began signing towards the side, wanting for the boy to follow. It took a while, but finally he gave in. “You wanna bring me to my friends? Because I have no idea where they are. Not that I care, but it kinda sucks.”   
Giggling she nodded and began walking off slowly, waiting for him to follow.   
As soon as they came close to the employee’s only section, he slowed down. “You aren´t getting me in trouble, right? I mean, hell, I´d be down if there´s at least something interesting to see here, but Freddy´s is pretty screwed if you catch my drift.”   
Giving him two handguns, she continued walking forwards… as soon as he stepped into the door, a bucket fell down on top of him, covering him entirely in pink dye. This was already hilarious enough, but then he began screaming in real terror and that was just the icing on the cake. Without even looking around any further, he turned and dashed away, scratching the still wet paint from his face and arms, his ridiculous screaming shocking all the other visitors out of the way.   
Clapping for herself, Alice found this was another job well-done. Nothing is better than reaffirming people´s believe that every day only brings shit!   
Now… wasn´t there something she wanted to-   
Suddenly, she was grabbed and picked up.   
Ops.   
Nervous she turned to her captor, it couldn´t be one of the teens, the hand was older-   
It was the detective.   
Fuck.   
With a frown he took a close look at her. “… You are a troublemaker, hm?”   
Panicked she tried to free herself, fearful giggling. This was going the WRONG way- if her dad would show up and help her, she wouldn´t be mad about being treated as incapable this time, she promised!   
Ethan on the other hand was thinking quickly. Something was wrong with the animatronic, with this one in particular. Who would program their machine to play mean tricks on the guest and drive them away?   
Why… why would that be something you would program into your machine?   
She continued to struggle as he looked at her.   
Features.   
He had no doubt that the bites were more than accidents, after all, why would an animatronic have a strong enough jaw to break someone´s skull?   
Not that anyone believed him when he talked about it.   
And now this animatronic seemed to be driving away guests…  
Trying to figure out what bothered him so strongly about this Minireena, he clutched her a bit tighter and turned her around, but all of a sudden the machine broke down and stopped moving.   
Shit, did he break it? Well, they were most likely not supposed to be grabbed like this, but- if they would find out he destroyed company property, he could-   
With that, the Minireena sprung back to life and jumped out of his loosened hand, running off into the crowd, giving a small laugh of relief. Seriously, she thought she was done for, getting kidnapped and pulled apart! That detective was no joke anyway… Phone Guy had warned the machines to be careful around him. He could shut them down or something worse, he said.   
Also, he said the man was smart and relentless, a dangerous mixture for Freddy´s and that if they would get rid of him, people would probably start getting suspicious of their place and that was the reason why they should just act as machine-like as possible around him.   
A rule she broke today.   
Oh well, it couldn´t be TOO bad, right?   
It was pretty unlikely that he would just, based on that, figure out that they were a child-kidnapping robo-cult, right?!  
But… she should lay low either way.   
The nukes wouldn´t run away and it was the least retribution she could get for being so careless.   
So instead she spend her day letting confetti rain on people who were just trying to eat their food, ruining it in the process and making a very cool drum beat, using the walls of the vent to create it.  
At the end of the day, she sat aside and watched the customers leave.   
Who would take the nighshift?   
Oh, Jeremy would!   
Poor boy had just caught up on some sleep as Baby approached him in a friendly manner, seemingly immune to the Marionette staring daggers into her.   
Alice nodded to herself and decided she wouldn´t be active tonight… that poor little kiddo deserved some slack for his first night! Also, it was way more fun watching the Guards freaking out from a distance, you could see their whole expression like that!   
Jeremy stepped and paused shortly as he saw the small animatronic on the desk. “H-hello!”   
She just laughed and watched Jeremy settle in for the night. Surely, he would survive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like Alice, I like goths and I like Ethan… but I feel like I couldn´t give them any of the attention they deserved with this. Sorry for this bad chapter, but it´s really hard to be motivated lately… and something is better than nothing. I know, it´s not the insanity filled filler I promised, but it actually moved the plot a small bit, so I use that as an excuse.   
> You´re always free to tell me if I could do things better, you know?   
> Anyway, thanks for reading and enjoy your weeks!


	29. Problems always stack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I hate myself and everything I ever created. A bit of """"""STORY""""""" a bit of nonsense, I hope it will satisfy you guys!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this one gets written on the 20th! Hmmm… you guys must hate me at this point! Don´t worry, I hate myself more.

When Mike woke up in the morning, the sun wasn´t even on the horizon yet. Through the window he could see that sky was getting slightly lighter at one end, but… it would take a while for the sun to rise.   
He was still resting next to Simon, a decision he did indeed regretted already.   
Just… the amount of warmth was scary. Being close to someone was scary.   
With a deep sigh he carefully slipped out of the sheets into the cold, making a small hissing noise as the cold air hit his skin. Thankfully he was already used to that sensation and most certainly used to leave the bed anyway. Lying around always ended up in him getting angry and making him think of all his past mistakes.   
Simon was still sleeping, thank fuck for that.   
Without any real motivation he began walking around the small place, searching for anything interesting.   
Before he never had the patience to do so, but now he actually acknowledged how barren and simple the place was. Definitely not made for having people over, but… it was surprisingly… roomy. Even if most rooms were nothing more than dusty places with covered furniture.   
It felt more like a haunted house in those early hours of the morning and you would expect the sheets suddenly raising up and… who fucking knows, silverware to attack. Mike would have to ask why the fuck Simon was living in this place.   
The only place remotely appearing used was the kitchen and it was… also pretty sterile. A used pan was all sitting on the stove, but there was nothing else.   
For some reason, this unsettled the Guard. What did Simon make that seemingly either required nothing but a pan or somehow convinced the man to clean up everything else EXCEPT the pan. It didn´t make sense! If you were already cleaning your fucking dishes, why leave the fucking PAN sitting there, dirty? Did he planned on making something else with it and forgot?   
Wait, why did he give a shit?   
Why was it irritating him so much?   
Because it didn´t make any sense!   
BUT IT DIDN`T FUCKING MATTER!   
BUT IT WAS REALLY WEIRD!   
FOR FUCK`S SAKE!  
HOW ABOUT YOU DO SOMETHING FUCKING USEFUL AND COOK EGGS?!   
THEY ALWAYS START BURNING!   
THEN FUCKING CONCENTRATE!  
I THINK THERE`S MORE TO COOKING EGG THAN CONCENTRATING!  
HOW WOULD YOU FUCKING KNOW, YOU NEVER FUCKING TRIED ANYTHING IN YOUR LIFE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!   
I CAN AND WILL FIGHT YOU!   
NO YOU FUCKING CAN`T YOU IMBICILE!  
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-  
With that he pulled out a few eggs and tried to remember how to make proper scrambled eggs, a feat surprisingly even possible for a numbnut like him!  
It took him until he finished making it that he asked himself why the fuck he did this. He wasn´t even hungry.   
Maybe he should wake up Simon and ask him if he wanted it…  
OH GEE, WHAT THE FUCK ELSE WOULD YOU DO, LET IT STAND THERE AND GET COLD!?  
YEAH, MAYBE I WILL, FUCK YOU!   
BUT WHY WOULD YOU, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT, IT WOULD MAKE NO SENSE!   
WHY DON`T YOU FUCKING KILL YOURSELF!?  
DOESN`T WORKING AT FREDDY`S COUNT AS THAT!?  
Growling to himself he located the knives and forks and brought the stuff to Simon´s bedside, the guy could probably use something to eat when he woke up.   
So… should he… wake him up...?  
A sudden noise caught his attention. It was a weird mechanical clicking.   
Curious he followed the noise out of the room… it came from one of the windows.   
Or… not?  
Huh.   
There was something moving out there.   
The sounds were subtle, yet very distinct against the distant chirping of the birds and the sound of wind in the branches.   
Morning time was always filled with an incredible tension for Mike. The whole world felt as if it was getting ready for the daily routine, the first cars began driving, the first bits of sunlight hit the earth, heating up the cold ground, the first people entered the street to get the things they needed.   
It was also the time when dreams turned into nightmares and if you were lucky enough to wake up before hell breaks loose, you wipe the cold sweat from your forehead and ask yourself why you can´t escape those fears.   
Funnily enough the clicking reminded him about something he would hear in his nightmares.   
But in which one of them?   
He had so many…  
Shaking off his weird trance-like state, he opened the window and let the cold morning air in, to lean outside and look around.   
Nothing.   
It was silent.   
Wait- what happened to the birds?   
Shivering for no good reason, he closed the window again, uncertain if he still wanted to know what that clicking had been-   
BANG BANG BANG!  
Somebody-  
Something  
\- was knocking on the front door with an incredible strength.   
Grabbing his flashlight-bat, the man slowly crept up to the entrance, ready to attack whatever was behind there and kill it in the most effective way he knew how to- by bashing whatever was operating it into mush. In most cases that was the brain.   
OH, shut the fuck up, you haven´t ever killed a man.   
Well, TECHNICALLY-  
Technically, yeah. But neither Vincent, nor Orange counted as human.   
Fair enough.   
Can we get back to whatever demon stands outside there now?   
Yes, right.   
Very slowly he bridged the rest of the distance and peeked through the peephole of the door, being greeted with…   
Nothing.   
Rubbing his face, he began asking himself if he was hallucinating. Would be pretty harmless, honestly.   
At least there were no corpses this time.   
Suddenly, a hand touched his back and made him freeze up.   
This wasn´t real.   
This wasn´t real.  
This wasn´t real-  
“M-Mike? Are you okay?”   
Turning around, he suddenly felt retarded, it was only Simon, giving him a worried look. “Yeah… just tripping. The usual.”   
“Sorry, I didn´t mean to… interrupt you?”   
“HMMM, YEAH, FUCK YOU, I LOVE MY TRIPS! HALLUCINATIONS ARE MY FAVORITE! I AM SOOOO DISAPPOINTED!”   
“A-ah, please calm down! I´m sorry!”   
“You better fucking be…” Mike rubbed his face, scanning Simon, trying to figure out if the man felt alright again. “You´re up early.”  
There was no expression. “Mike, for heck´s sake, usually I´m up WAY earlier. Usually I only get to put a cable into the back of my head to get energized… also, I got breakfast!”   
“… Was it good?”   
“I never knew a human being was CAPABLE to fail at making scrambled eggs. This was an eye-opening experience and I´m really thankful I got that. Could you make some more?”   
“If you explain to me why the fuck the pan was the only used thing in your kitchen, maybe.”   
Confused Simon tilted his head. “What…?”   
“Alright, different question, I thought you barely have any money, how the fuck do you live in a real house?”   
“Easy, I- uh…” The guy frowned. “It´s from the company. From all I could gather it was pretty cheap anyway, because it´s haunted or something… all those people who built on it died, all the previous owners died and it´s surrounded by a giant scary forest. Needless to say that it isn´t really… high in demand. Maybe the company just really wants to get rid of me, but I can honestly not care… for all the time living here, I had no problem for all the time I´ve been here. Admittedly I don´t really spend a lot of time in here, but…”  
“How many places can be fucking haunted in this world?! HOW MANY SOULS CAN BE STUCK TO THIS SHITSTAIN OF A REALITY?!”   
“Again, I´m pretty sure this place actually ISN`T haunted. I know a haunted place when I see one and this place is just depressing. There are quite a few animals in the area on the other hand… sometimes they try to get in I think.”   
“And you´re just… okay with it?”   
“It isn´t much different from a usual workday.”   
Fair enough. “So… that knocking was real?”   
“Uh… I´m not sure, I haven´t heard anything to be perfectly honest… but I was somewhat distracted by your masterpiece of a dish that almost costed my life.”   
“Screw you! Fucking say it was bad and get over it!”   
“I wouldn´t call it bad, it brought me to another plane of existence-“   
“SHUT UP!” It didn´t really bother him that his food was called bad, after all he never fucking cooked, but that his friend was constantly mentioning it was driving him up the walls. “We have a bit more important things to do than keep talking about the same shit! What about work?”   
“It´s amazing how enthusiastic you become about work, once you dislike a certain topic.”   
“It´s amazing how fucking sarcastic you´ve become, once you stopped giving a shit.”   
“Yeah, about right.” The Phone Guy yawned. “I´m going to take a shower, please don´t break anything.”   
The man turned away and left, before Mike even got the chance to ask him how the fuck that man managed to shower with that head. Too bad. Anyway, not breaking anything for ten minutes or something. No problem.   
Only a small problem.   
Restless he wandered around, before finally sitting down on the sofa in front of a rather small TV. They watched documentaries all day yesterday, the most retarded thing he´s ever done. Why would he care about the wander-routes that wolfs take?!  
He didn´t, but seemingly Simon. Or at least he argued that it managed to relax him.  
And no, Mike didn´t tried to argue with him he wasn´t that much of a fucking cunt. Though at the point that they came to the documentary about why the fuck colors existed, he almost dozed off, so… there was some truth in it apparently.   
Fucking hell, the only thing remotely interesting were those about ancient predators, because fucking hell was it BRUTAL!  
NOTHING WAS AS GREAT AS SEEING GIANT LIZARDS TEAR EACH OTHER APART! BAM, GIANT LIZARD GETS EATEN BY OTHER GIANT LIZARD, BUT THEN ANOTHER GIANT LIZARD COMES OUT OF THE WATER AND-  
Again, frantic knocking.   
Groaning Mike stood up. Either he checked on his hallucination to make it hopefully fuck off or he would hear that knocking for the rest of his day.   
To his surprise there was ACTUALLY someone there, namely Orange, having an alarmed expression. Since he wouldn´t stop knocking, Mike finally gave in and opened the door. “What the fuck do you want-!”   
“HAVEYOUSEENALICE?!” The man jumped right at him.   
“Fuck no! Why would I know where that fucking cancer is?! Probably at the restaurant, trying to kill Jerry like the fucking monster she is?”   
“Ooooooh… right… that could be!” Completely relaxed again, Old Sport jumped back and cheerful looked around. “What a neat place? Where´s the Phoney?”  
“Showering…?”   
“Owww, wild night?”   
“Do you consider documentaries as wild?” Mike didn´t even give a shit at this point, not willing to let him irritate him.   
“Fuck, he got the DOCUMENTARIES out? Spicy, I never expected you two to be THAT filthy! Remind me to never touch any of you two ever again.”   
“Yes, PLEASE. Could you now leave?”   
“Nah.” Completely ignorant of Mike´s annoyance the man entered and looked around. “Really, I´d live here!”   
“But you DON`T so FUCK OFF! What do you even WANT?!”   
“Welp, you´re gonna come to work, right? We could walk together~!”   
“Just spill it. What the fuck is your problem? Did you have a fight with Dave or what?”   
“No…?” His voice sounded incredible innocent.   
“If you´re planning anything stupid, I swear to god-“   
“Okay, okay, I´m curious! How´s Phoney doing now that his head got opened? Is he… is he okay?”   
“Don´t tell me you´re fucking worried, I´d be more than disgusted with such a blatant lie.”   
“Worried is a broad word…” Old Sport tried to weasel around it, feeling called out. “I AM actually a bit worried about him! Mostly curious though. I… there was only once I met a Phone Guy that almost remembered what he had been before, but…”   
“But?”   
“We all got off track…”   
“We all?”   
“Mike, for fuck´s sake, leave me alone!” Apparently that he was sensitive to that topic, making this situation even more suspicious.   
“Feel free to leave at any fucking time!”   
Their senseless bickering was finally interrupted by Simon, who now fully ready joined them at the door. “Employees? What is going on?”   
“Old Sport came up to fuck around.” Mike sounded only annoyed.   
“I didn´t!” Insulted the man crossed his arms. “I only wanted to check on you… and since you´re back up, we could walk together!”   
Phone Guy stared a while before nodding. “Sounds reasonable. Are you ready to get going, Mike?”   
Baffled his friend glanced at him, but some sort of nervous energy pushed his need to argue aside. It was highly unlikely that Old Sport actually planned something bad, it… he hadn´t before.   
Also, he needed to get back to the establishment.   
Check on it.   
“I´ll be ready in a minute.” Quickly he ran off to put on his shoes and join them outside.   
For another moment the headless and the soulless stared at each other.   
“Stop making Mike so uncomfortable.”   
Instantly Orange Guy took note of the slightly colder undertones in his voice. “It´s not like I´m doing it on purpose… he needs a thicker skin. Hey, so… how are you feeling?”   
“What do you expect? I was Springlocked, I lost- I lost a LOT and just yesterday I was ALLOWED to realize it.”   
Sympathetic Old Sport smiled. “It will get better. Eventually.”   
“Is that all what you wanted? I don´t need sympathy from a psychopath.”   
“Ah, Phoney! You´re now one of us, I´d be careful what I say!”   
Quick, loud steps announced Mike return and the Orange Guy decided that it was the PERFECT moment to change topic to something more cheerful!   
“Did you see yesterday´s camera feed?! There were again THE BEST expressions, once you come to the part where Freddy-“   
They started walking and Mike looked up at the clear sky, wondering how Jerry did. It´s kind of screwed if he thought about it. In his job, it would be totally normal to simply say goodbye to a co-worker at evening and never see him again, because he got torn apart by a group of killer robots.   
Somehow, he suddenly felt a sting of sympathy for Simon and all the other Phone Guys that were working in such a position. No wonder they had such a hard time to treat his employees as people and not as disposable objects.  
Maybe he wouldn´t care about people either when they would disappear on him on a regular basis.   
For a while he spaced out.   
God, he hoped the boy wasn´t dead or traumatized.   
The kid didn´t deserve that.

Jeremy had passed a night that he wouldn´t call traumatizing, but… difficult.   
Not that he really expected anything from the new animatronics… except maybe an explanation?   
Oh, they didn´t want to hurt him, of that he was sure. Freddy went as far as announcing his attacks, making it OBVIOUS that deep down the bear didn´t want him to get attacked.   
Foxy and Ballora were also fairly easy to keep in check and maybe if they would get the lamps at the doors back, it would be even easier! So, he should ask his boss about that.   
The only problem was Baby… she frantically changed positions, always ready to attack. Vent, right, left, nothing was safe from her and he had to continuously check the camera in order to figure out where she went to and how long he had to keep the door closed.   
Thankfully Marion was with him. He had taken over to check Funtime Freddy, even closing the doors on his own.   
Yes, if it hadn´t been for him, Jeremy could have gotten seriously hurt on night one alone!   
…  
… but why?  
Deep down it bothered him.   
Why did the animatronics do this?   
Why would they try to get into the office like this?  
His gut told him to kill and stuff him.   
Everyone else seemed to be under the same impression.   
But WHY?  
They weren´t glitching, they were intelligent, sentient robots, they didn´t even strike him as angry.   
Christ, one of them even EXPLAINED how to get past them!   
So… why do it in the first place?   
Baby just smiled at him when he asked, putting a hand on his shoulder and telling him that sometimes things just are the way they are.   
Jeremy was neither stupid, nor unobservant. Only willfully ignorant.   
As the clock chimed, he stayed in his seat, staring at the small Ballerina on his table, who was applauding him cheerfully, all hints of aggression lost.   
Could it be a part of oneself to kill?   
Could harming other creatures… not out of hatred… be something someone would do? Harming other people, not for the harm it cause, but for the impulse alone be… a thing?  
“T-The Birthday BOI sur-survived!” Ecstatic the giant marshmallow bear entered the room, moving towards the young Guard for a hug, but was stopped by a very angry Marionette.   
Do not dare to touch him!   
“Aw-w-w c-come on! I just want a- want a- want a HUG!”  
Jeremy smiled. “It´s okay, Marion, don´t worry.” He closed in and snuggled the machine that screeched in happiness.   
This machine wasn´t a monster. None of them were.   
They weren´t killer either.   
But… why then…?  
Maybe they… didn´t know there was another way? They couldn´t understand that… there was more? That the actions they took had an effect?  
They haven´t killed anyone.   
Not yet.   
And they wouldn´t.  
Because he and the other Guards were here.   
Suddenly, a giant yawn forced itself out and Ballora, who had entered as well to congratulate him, shook her head. “Let him go, Freddy. He needs sleep.”   
“B-But I don´t- don´t- don´t wanna!”   
“Freddy.”   
“O-kay-y…” Unhappy the bear let his victim go, who simply giggled and stumbled away. “I- I´m somehow r-really happy-happy-happy that h-he´s still AROUND!”   
“And I am sure it will stay like that for quite a while.”   
“D-did you know?! Even f-father likes-likes-likes him so much, he a-already made a suit- suit- suit!”   
“Yes, I know.”   
“Not e-even I w-wanna eat him! I-I can´t wait-wait for him to be-become FAMILY!”   
Ballora put her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. “Give it time. Now leave and charge up please, before you and Bonbon get tired while doing your show.”   
“B-but I wanna take care- take care- take care of the BIRTHDAY BOY!”   
“He only survived a night, that doesn´t make him a birthday boy.”   
“But he can- can- can CELEBRATE!”   
“He can celebrate later. Go and rest.” With a gentle sternness she pushed him out of the office and thankfully Freddy didn’t argue any further, since he also actually felt exhausted.   
The morning time passed quietly like that… one might say that morning was the safest to be at Circus Baby´s… or any Freddy´s to be honest.   
So, when the three Guards entered none of them expected the sudden scream and an attack from above, even though they should have expected it.   
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORT!” The Orange Guy was smashed. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! YOU DISAPPEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARED!”  
Dave had pinned his friend down and was nuzzling him like a lost dog that just was reunited with its owner.   
Old Sport couldn´t help but grin at that enthusiasm. Really… Dave was the only one ever being HAPPY to see him. “I´ve just been looking for Alice, but she´s only been pestering Jeremy!”   
“DON`T DISAPPEAR ON ME! I HATE THAT!”   
“I´m sorry, I´m sorry, how can I make it up?” This was sure to end up in something fairly entertaining.   
“You know how to make my heart pound, don´t cha?” Dave gave him a wide smile.   
“Aw, shut your mouth eggplant. What do you want to do?”   
For a while Dave stayed quiet, staring at his friend and partner, seemingly lost in thought. Apparently he was actually hesitant about this one. “You know… follow me, Old Sport!”   
Suddenly he jumped up and dashed away, the Orange Guy barely able to stay on his heels. They forced themselves through crowds of children and adults walking round everywhere, past all the major attractions into a smaller part. They entered the parts and services room and took a staircase downwards into a fairly roomy place with tables and spare parts everywhere, probably for bigger repairs.   
“Ya know, Sportsy, the people are all without faith. We´ve gotta recreate god and set him LOOSE!”   
“Wha…?” That wasn´t what he expected, honestly. But when did Dave what he expected?  
“You’ve heard me, m´boy! WE SHALL STRIKE FEAR INTO THEIR HEARTS!”   
“Uh… how should we recreate god?”   
“Ah, not that important, Old Sport! We´ll just use whatever is around! Spare parts and all that junk!”   
“Doesn´t sound very holy to me…” Skeptic the Orange Guy looked around. “God is a dog and we never even made a dog animatronic! Actually, why didn´t we?”   
“Shush, we can later make a dog animatronic, now we´re making a god animatronic!”   
This was-   
Wait. Was it?  
Not really, no.   
Ridiculous was something else. Like trying to reason AGAINST building a giant machine abomination and calling it god! Why would anyone DO that!?   
“Okay, I want him to have a Foxy head!”  
“Foxy head, coming right up!”  
“But give it FREDDY ears!”   
“Are you sure about-“   
“I WANT THE CREATURE TO HAVE A DISTURBINGLY HUMAN, MUSCULAR BODY!”   
“I`M DOWN FOR IT! OUR GOD WILL CREATE ALL THE FURRIES!”  
“FURRIES WILL TAKE OVER THE WORLD!”   
“LET GIVE IT A TAIL!”  
“A TAIL THAT SHOOTS LASERS!”   
“AND IN ITS CHEST THERE`S AN OVEN THAT ALWAYS MAKES BACON FOR ALL THE BELIEVERS!”   
“AND ITS FINGERS ARE TENTACLES!”   
“No, that is going too far.”   
“You´re right.”   
A few hours passed in silence and peace.   
Phone Guy reflected on his situation.   
Really, maybe he should be more relaxed. Despite having a bigger place, somehow, the legal trouble they were in stayed roughly the same… the animatronics didn´t traumatize the children anymore on accident- well, Funtime Freddy did, but he traumatized EVERYONE, so there wasn´t much they could do about it and the surrounding attractions only broke down every so often.   
Deep down, he thought it was horrifying. How could David Miller, or rather William Afton, create a whole amusement park in such a short amount of time?  
Why didn´t anyone veto this project with the reasoning that Freddy´s ALWAYS was unsafe?  
How did he get this project this quickly planned out? Had he been working on it for a while now, or…?  
What was his motivation? Was it really just a form of “bigger and better”? It seemingly was for the animatronics to enjoy, but honestly-   
If the animatronics were stuffed kids, which they most likely were, let´s not tell ourselves lies here, HOW did Dave take them over? WHY did they went along with him?  
Were they brainwashed?   
Were they threatened?  
Funtime Freddy sounded insane, downright and honestly.   
Ironically he seemed the sanest out of all of them by that. How else should a kid react after being kidnapped, killed and forced to entertain a crowd of kids not sharing his horrible fate?  
For this reason he respected the robots. All of them.   
They were just kids.   
What else were they supposed to do?  
Were the current creations actually alright, snapped beyond the point of sanity but happy, or were they forced by some foreign programming to pretend to be happy and fine?  
What would be worse?  
Silently he asked himself if his brother maybe was still out there. Possessing a Freddy.   
Wouldn´t that be ironic?   
Wanting to die, then living forever?  
No. Ian was gone.   
Deal with it.   
Nothing could change that.   
So what was left?   
Keep going?   
Why?   
Because someone has to.   
Someone has to take care of this place and protect the children.   
Someone has to be responsible and prevent any further escalation from happening.   
Someone has to keep an eye on Mike.   
He almost laughed quietly to himself.   
That man didn´t know what to do with himself.   
In Simon´s estimation, he was even worse at living than Jeremy was… and that meant quite a bit!  
Oh sure, Mike knew how to stand up for himself and to not take any bullshit… but seriously, Mike didn´t know what to do and where to go on his own. He had this head-first mentality, where he didn´t care about why he was doing the things he did, as long as it brought him “forward”.   
But it was still nice to be around him.   
His energy was infectious.   
Yeah, he should go and look-   
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, BOYS AND GIRLS!” A giant explosion came for the other side of the place. “BOW TO US FOR WE ARE BRINGING YOU GOD!”   
Through the grey, thick smoke a figure raised, double as big as a normal animatronic-  
WAIT, DID THEY PUT LEGS ON THE LEGS TO MAKE THE THING TALLER-   
DEAR LORD-  
“SUBMIT ALL YOUR FAZTOKENS AND YOUR SOUL AND ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO THIS SEXY BEAST AND YOUR LIFE SHALL BE SPARED!”  
WHY DID THEY ALWAYS DO THIS?!   
WHY COULND`T THEY GO ONE DAY WITHOUT CREATING SOMETHING HORRIBLE?!  
JESUS CHRIST, WHAT WAS THAT THING?!   
“EMPLOYEES! STOP THAT NOW!”   
“WE ARE GODS AMONG MORTALS AND YOU DARE CALLING US EMPLOYEES! YOU SHALL BE PURGED! GODDO! ATTACK!”   
“DID YOU JUST CALL THAT THING GODDO, WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”   
“WE`RE NOT REALLY GOOD WITH NAMES!”   
The surrounding screams and crowds running away made the animatronic uncomfortable. Actually, it had the AI of a Foxy, so being stared at really was uncomfortable for it. It tried to not step on people, but hide behind something tall, something that wouldn´t break when he touched it.   
Tough luck, there was nothing.   
“GODDO! BREAK THE MORTALS! MAKE THEM FEAR YOU! EITHER THEY DRAW PERVY FANART OR THEY SHALL PERISH! NO ONE IS SAFE!”   
Whining, the giant beast cowered onto the ground, all this noise and light was messing with its servers.   
Phone Guy sighed at this utter catastrophe. “Look, deactivate that poor thing, it seems it doesn´t want to live.”   
“Who does at this place?” Old Sport finally jumped down, petting the sad being he brought into this world.   
Dave jumped down next to him, smiling brightly. “I do! I´ve got a Sportsy, I´ve got my Funtimes, I´ve got kebab!”   
“DID YOU AGAIN GET KEBAB WITHOUT ME?!”   
“Uh…”   
“THAT`S THE LAST STRAW, DAVE! IT`S OVER, I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN. DEPRIVE ME OF KEBAB ONCE, SHAME ON YOU, DEPRIVE ME OF KEBAB TWICE, TIME TO END IT!”   
“N-No, Sportsy, Imma get you some kebab, I´m sorry! I didn´t mean to- I´ll be right back!” Sincerely panicked the man sprinted away, leaving Orange Guy and Phone Guy to look after him.   
“Heh, I didn´t mean it THAT literal…”   
“But you´re still happy about it, aren´t you?” Phone Guy couldn´t approve of this situation. After all, who would get rid of this nightmare creature? “Can you put the thing back where you took it from?”   
“Pffft, you really want to treat Freddy´s new god like this?”   
“Yes.”   
“Oh… well then.” Not really in the mood to argue, Old Sport whispered something to the animatronic, who instantly jumped up and left back where it came from, together with its creator.   
Good news was that at least it was highly unlikely that they would do any other nonsense for today. Bad news was that they probably would actually start praying to that thing and do weird rituals.   
He would have to create a new update to the rules, banning all religion and all philosophy from this place. Now that would bring some uncomfortable question to the table.   
Ah screw, that would be worth it.   
At least it would be one less thing to worry about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just finished. Like, literally right now. I´m sorry, but it´s getting better, no more learning getting in the way! Hey, maybe next chapter will be a proper one!   
> Hahaha, as if I ever made a proper chapter.   
> Jesus, I´m sorry that any of you ever liked this story.


	30. Failure on all fronts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy gets a friendly visit from the detective and Phone Guy works his first nightshift!  
> Both end up rather depressing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I´m sorry, this is a day late. I didn´t mean for that to happen.

The call came unexpected, no, the call was completely out of the ordinary. For Jeremy who had been used to ignore the ringing inside of his house for so long, seeing this new weird number on his display was almost a shock.   
Maybe someone accidently called the wrong number?  
Hesitant his hand hovered over the receiver, he felt Marion stare at him.   
What is the problem?   
“I don´t recognize this number…” That earned him a weird side-glance. Not because there was something wrong with not recognizing a number, but rather because it appeared to bother the guy this much that he didn´t want to accept the call. Wasn´t it somewhat normal to not recognize a number?  
But the Marionette kept silent, it wasn´t his position to judge or decide for Jeremy… at least not for something this petty.   
Another second the boy left his hand over the phone, before finally pick it up, right at the last ring. “H-Hello, Jeremy Fitzgerald speaking?”   
“Thank heavens that I managed to reach you.” The voice sounded calm, friendly, but somewhat distant. “Ethan Cross, maybe you remember that we talked back in January?”   
“Oh, YES! That has been an eternity! I always wondered what came from the investigation!”   
This created a short pause. It struck Ethan as weird that the man´s first instinct was to ask for the investigation and not for his reason to call. “Nothing. The parts were shipped off before we could properly identify the DNA inside of the robots.”   
“DNA?” There was a hint of fear inside his voice.   
“You heard me correctly. There was some sort of… residue. Once more, we could not identify what it was and this is the reason I am calling you today.”   
“But that has been… months now! A-and weren´t you just trying to catch whoever broke them apart?”   
“Was that what you have been told? Anyway, Jeremy- can I call you Jeremy?”   
“Of course!”   
“Thank you. Can I ask you to answer some questions for me in person?”   
“In person…?”   
“Do you mind that?”   
“Not… really, no. It´s fine, I was just surprised! W-Where?”   
There was some hesitation. “I am open for suggestion, but for the time being I would say we should meet at your place? If you don´t mind it that is.”   
“No, it´s fine! When will I be seeing you?” Jeremy hadn´t had any visitors since Mike and Mr. Phone Guy had broken into his house and felt somewhat anxious. It was clean and all, but still, he would feel a bit judged.   
“At what point would I be the least bothersome?” Politely the detective replied.   
“I-If you´re asking like this… how about at three? I would have tea and maybe some cookies ready!”   
The man on the other side of the phone smiled, unknown to Jeremy. This kind of person wasn´t too rare, but they were pleasant… usually it were mothers who had barely any idea what was going on, but didn´t feel the need to be worried about anything. They met them when they tried to talk to a kid or teenager who might have witnessed something and while they could take up a lot of time with useless banter, they still were Ethan´s favorite type to talk to. It reminded him that they were real people, who don´t know anything about murder or killing, who just wanted the best for their kids and saw helping the police as some sort of honor or good deed that they wore with pride. When he and his partner would leave they wouldn´t have stirred up to much drama and the mother would go back to maybe cooking dinner, or telling her friends and family about the interesting thing that had happened, without too much worry, without any fear.   
Alright, some people despised them for their ignorance, but Ethan saw them as exactly what they wanted to protect. Those innocent people who tried their best and were kind to everyone they could be, those people who didn´t understand what laid under the surface of the human mind, but trusted the authorities like him to keep them safe and secure.   
For a peaceful and worry-free society.   
A split second passed in which he almost sighed deeply, but he fought that reflex down, as to not worry the person on the other side.   
“U-Uh… sir? Are you still there?”   
Dammit! “Excuse me, I got shortly distracted… also, didn´t we already agreed to use first name? No need for using “sir” with me, Jeremy. Would you be so kind as to tell me your address, so I can ensure I have the right one?”   
The kid told him and once more Ethan was smiling. “Thank you very much. I´m looking forward to meeting you. Goodbye.”   
“Likewise! Goodbye!” With that last word Jerry had almost instantly mashed the receiver back where it belonged, breathing in and out, trying to get his nervousness out of his body. He didn´t even noticed himself tensing up to this degree.   
The Marionette tilted his head, having listened to the one sided conversation, but still expecting the full story… for which he didn´t even had to ask.   
“It was one of the police man! You remember, back in January? He said he had a few questions for me and would like to come over for a while… it´s about something he found in the Toys but couldn´t identify?”   
They probably found years old remains of the children... at least the part that Phone Guy could not reach.   
“If you say so... but the less I know the better I think… so please leave it at that. Except you think he can somehow help us?”   
The animatronic paused and considered it for a while. He had always thought about initiating Ethan into what was going on, but deep down he couldn´t stop doubting that Ethan´s nature would bring him to use official means… ending in his swift execution. When faced with someone like Dave you couldn´t rely on the normal justice system. There was a chance that at one point the man might become desperate enough to use the… other route and take it all into his own hands… but for now he doubted that Ethan was the right man for the job.   
Also, what was he supposed to do? Despite being literally the victim, who would believe a bunch of machines? There was nothing they could PROVE… and even if common sense would only allow that conclusion… for some reason Freddy´s managed again and again to tear itself away from the edge of shut-down.   
It was as if the whole fucking franchise was haunted, not only the robots.   
People were surprisingly opposed to the idea of ghosts in general, even if the evidence stared them directly in the face.   
“Marion?” Apparently the boy still expected an answer. Fine.   
Not yet. Maybe one day he will understand… for now I cannot risk him acting on his own accord and harming himself and our plan.   
“Plan?”   
Okay, I admit, I have no plan yet, but… for now I can keep my option open, if he acts in the wrong way then we will have a harder time and our enemy will be alarmed.   
“Marion, let me be honest with you, I hate how you´re talking about this. Who is the enemy, Marion? Why does anybody have to be the enemy?”   
BECAUSE CHILDREN DIE HERE, JEREMY.   
“… We´ve had this discussion already.” The boy hugged himself, leaving the Puppet to screech internally. Jeremy was as opposed to believe that Dave and Old Sport killed the children as a normal person was to believing in ghosts. It made Marion want to scream out in frustration and bash his stupid little head in.  
Though, it didn´t matter, of course it didn´t. Jeremy didn’t have to be a part of the revenge and he didn´t have to know about anything. As long as he was careful in what he told him… also, the boy´s kind nature would make him excellent at freeing souls. Where others might turn away, calling the machines all killer robots, he´d fight through it and see them for what they really were; confused, helpless children.   
So… have him play along for now, distract him a bit with tasks that are a bit tedious, but necessary and in no time they´d be done with William and Orange Guy and off to freeing everyone.   
“Anyway, I´ll go make some cookies now! You wanna help?”   
No… the last time didn´t go too well, do you remember?   
“Heh, you´re right! Then get comfortable, I´ll be a teeny tiny bit busy for now!”   
So Marion did! They put on the TV and let a few cartoons run in the background… but the Puppet paid it barely any mind, instead taking in the ambiance.   
Sunlight crept through the rooms as the day went on and the unobtrusive noises out of the kitchen, the clanking of pots and Jerry´s humming created a scene so peaceful, it put him into some sort of comfortable trance.   
This must be what home felt like. Quiet, calm, warm and nice.   
A bothersome hint of worry sneaked into his being as the possibility of the detective breaking into this place and disturbing Jeremy´s happiness made itself apparent… but no. It was hard to bring Jeremy out of balance, no matter what you threw at him.   
Yet… he was a bit nervous…  
As the day went on, the shadows became shorter and the sunrays even hotter. At some point Jeremy had finished his brownies and joined Marion on the couch, curling up and falling asleep.   
What a lazy Sunday.   
Softly he forced the kid awake when the bell rang and then went to hide in the bedroom, listening in to their conversation.   
When the man came in, the first thing he noticed was how empty it was. Yes, there was furniture, but it was mostly the necessary and seemed all rather old. Nonetheless, the place was warm, in appearance just as much as in actual temperature and inviting. The many pictures on the wall sure did their fair share for that effect…   
Quietly he wondered if the boy had younger siblings that drew for him or if he kept any pictures the children in his workplace handed him. There were a lot of Freddy´s typical motives, so much was apparent.   
“Please come in, sir- I mean, Ethan. Sit down, I have tea ready in the kitchen and… I hope you like brownies?”   
With a soft laugh the adult looked at his subject. “I thought you would have normal cookies that one always keeps back for guests… now it turns out you made brownies? May I ask for what occasion they were made?”   
“O-Oh, I had a bit spare time… so… uh…” Jerry laughed a bit awkwardly, hoping the detective wouldn´t see him as weird or anything.   
“Well, in that case I should count myself as lucky. Thank you, Jeremy.” He took one and tried it, they were delicious! Freshly baked and still warm inside. But… he had to come to the questions. “I would expect of someone who usually holds the nightshift to sleep most of the morning…? Or am I mistaken in saying you are a nightguard?”   
“Not mistaken, no… we all switch shifts! Depending on who feels ready to do it, every dayshift guard is also a nightshift guard!”   
“Interesting. But isn´t that quite exhausting? Changing your sleep cycle so much?”   
“It´s… alright.” Hesitant Jeremy began thinking about it. “After I come back from Freddy´s I can always sleep fairly easily and feel pretty rested afterwards! Heh, if I´m thinking about it, Sundays are the days that leave me the most unrested and exhausted. We also can sleep in between our shifts, for example we all sleep before the nightshift starts… the chairs were made extra comfy just for that!”   
Ethan´s fingers tapped against the table, a semblance of worry creeping into his demeanor. “Seemingly Freddy´s isn´t for everyone though. Quite the amount of people disappeared while working there…”   
“Not many people like working there… you need to basically have no other life I guess, heh. The working hours are a bit… chaotic, you need to be available at almost any time. I don’t mind it though! Really! I enjoy having this routine.”   
“Excuse me, but let me say that again. People quite literally disappear from the face of the earth while working at Freddy´s. Never to be seen again.” With great attention Ethan watched the kid in front of him, this distraction has surprised him. Was the boy hiding something or was he this ignorant?  
“I´ve heard of it…” A bit taken aback Jeremy nodded, his smile vanishing. “But while I worked at Freddy´s, nothing of this sort happened. Everyone is satisfied with working there and no one ever mentioned leaving… let alone disappearing without reason. Sorry I can´t help you on this topic.”   
“You have no idea what could have happened to them?”   
“Not really, no.” Really, for a moment Jerry sat back. What happened to employees who got… stuffed…?  
Ethan nodded. For now he would believe the boy. “There are a few other things I would like you to tell me about.”   
“I will answer as well as I can…”   
“What did your boss tell you about our task at Freddy´s?”   
“I was told that he hoped that-“ What was he told again? “- you could take a look at them, find out who broke them and something about legal things? Insurance?”   
Sounds about what you would tell a person who has no idea and didn´t ask any questions. Well, it was about the right type of guy a Freddy´s employer would want to work for them.   
“Jeremy. He lied to you. We were actually called as some unknown person claimed that there were… hints… to a previous case hidden inside the machines and that they were to be shipped off soon. It was nothing substantial, so we were unable to hold them back.”   
“A previous case?”   
“The disappearance of a boy. Gary Baker was his name. He disappeared in a previous location, namely the one in California, out of which the robots were shipped over.”   
Jeremy stayed quiet for a while, not knowing what to say. “But… you didn´t found anything?”   
“Nothing substantial.”   
“Maybe… there was nothing…?” It somewhat sunk in that the robots he had fought of at night were really possessed. No, he didn´t forget, but he… suppressed. It made thinking back of staring them into their faces in terror a hint more depressing.   
Yet, what was he supposed to say? Tell them the robot had them inside all the time?   
They were gone, both children and robots- wait.   
No.   
Marion would have told him if the children would have been in trouble, right?   
Of course! Marion cared about the children!  
“Do you really believe that?” The man crossed his arms and sat back.   
“Well, yeah, because… you would have found something, right? You can´t just hide a corpse somewhere and nobody notices…!”   
“Usually not. But Freddy´s seem to be talented at getting away with odd happenings. For example, children disappear incredibly often around it.”   
What was he supposed to answer?! No children disappeared while he worked there, he hadn´t seen anything and no matter what Marion said, he himself didn´t know who did it or why.   
Thankfully, or not, Ethan continued. “Do you know what a Serial Killer is?”   
“Uh… somewhat…?”   
“Serial Killer, or at least the type haunting Freddy´s always follow the same pattern. Compulsive. When we first were faced with the case, we thought it was an employee, a sick one at that, wanting to get revenge on the company. But more than soon enough it turned out that with that man there was so much more to it… when you want to profile a person, you need to ask yourself what they do what they don´t need to do. Now, with our mysterious monster we have a lot of weird habits. Five children. Always, but the ages vary. They get lured away by the person in the suit. This tells us that the man behind the mask always has access to the staff only section and is a long time employee… or maybe even one of the higher ups? Problem with that being that both Henry Miller, as well as William Afton seem to have vanished around the time of Fredbear´s Family diner´s closing, making them unlikely to be subjects, despite all else making it very plausible. They just… seemed to have left the face of earth, first Mr. Miller, leaving Mr. Afton devastated. A few weeks after that man disappeared as well, suicide is the ongoing theory. Either way, the killings have not stopped. Not to mention that a surprising amount of places with a similar gimmick have fallen victim to murder as well, though far more rarely than Freddy´s itself. The children disappear without any trace, which leads us to assume that they are probably dead.” At that his demeanor suddenly changed and became far more pain-ridden than before. Silence settled in.   
“… Ethan…?” Jeremy worried for this man. He seemed at the brink of insanity.   
His voice sounded broken. “They´re all dead Jeremy. All of them. I failed and I continue to fail and nothing… nothing changes. We shut down location after location, imprison suspect after suspect. But it all… they all return. Freddy´s always returns, but the children…”   
Unsure of how to react, the boy helplessly petted the older one´s shoulder, quite a reach but he managed.   
At the touch Ethan seemingly snapped out of it, moving away, a shaky laugh followed. “Wow… I´m… sorry, this is incredibly unprofessional.”   
“But understandable…” Quietly Jeremy added. “… Who wouldn´t feel horrible about this situation? Yet… did you… lose someone yourself…? I´m sorry if it´s none of my business…”   
Her birthday would have been yesterday. In retrospect he should have known better than to schedule this event… but he wanted to be stronger than this. He wanted it so bad, but he forget that he couldn´t will things like that into existence.   
But at least wear that burden with a semblance of composure. “Her name… was Evelyn. And her death had been purely my fault.”   
“I never understand when people say that. It is as if the killer has nothing to do with it.”   
“Ha- you´re right, kid. But as… when you… as a parent…” For a moment he trailed off. “I shouldn´t have told her about the case. I told her I was searching for a few kids at Freddy´s… I thought- I didn´t think anything of it, because it was a Freddy´s in another area, far enough away to feel safe… to feel… at that point we were positive to find them before it was too late- or at least had a strong lead… Evelyn, she… she loved to hear stories from my work… and always wanted to hear the newest, even if it was… if I did barely anything for a day, she always wanted details… when she asked me if I asked Freddy if he had seen anything, I laughed it off as a silly child idea, because- as what else were I supposed to see it?” Again, a long pause and his words afterwards were almost too quiet to hear. “I… I didn´t expect her to try and help like that. I told her I didn´t because… bear´s aren´t good witnesses. She thought her idea was so great and she was so baffled about me not talking with Freddy that she took it into her own hands and left to go to Freddy´s the next day. A different Freddy´s naturally, but for some reason… for some ungodly reason she was right where the killer hit next. He took her. He fucking took her along with five others. Because I wasn´t quick enough. Because I didn´t catch him. Because I let her have those stupid ideas. Because…”   
“Don´t be so hard on yourself. She wouldn´t want that, I´m sure of it…”   
“We will never find out, will we?” The man took a sip of his drink. “I would give up my damn worthless life to see her again. But I can´t. I… can´t. All I can do is find that monster. But… not even that it seems…” There was some almost hysterical laughter, but Jeremy knew how to fight that. He handed him another brownie.   
“You will find him! After all, you´ve been at this for so long… you´re probably right at him and just need… I don´t know, one last revelation!”   
“I need… answers. People keep… avoiding to answer, it is as if Freddy´s is one giant conspiracy- I think there might even be more than one killer.” His eyes lit up with some sort of suspicion against the guy in front of him. “I want information and I want it now- but life isn´t about what I want. For now I would already be happy with SOME answers. Please, what do you know about the animatronics?”   
“They´re awesome! Dave brought them in one day… or was it Mr. Phone Guy? Dave knows the robots better than anything, but I´m not quite sure who of them ultimately was the one deciding to get them. I´m glad they did though!”   
“I´ve seen one of them harm a customer… or at least strongly inconveniencing him. How is that possible?”   
“Maybe he was rude to them? Depends on who we´re talking about!”   
“They´re all robots. They shouldn´t care if someone´s rude to them!”   
“How can you say that? They´re all intelligent beings… did you ever try to talk to some of them?” Jerry frowned displeased, but the approaching breakdown quickly got him out of that again.   
“Of… of course I did. After what happened to… I asked them… They´re a horrible glitch mess…” And after he had been seen talking with them, there were serious doubts about his mental stability. Not that it wasn´t warranted, but it… went all downhill from there.   
What was he doing?   
He was supposed to ask questions!   
But… look at him. That boy has no idea what has happened. That kid doesn´t even truly understand the amount of terror and pain Freddy´s brought to the world. This was a waste of time. A giant, fucking waste.   
No, he shouldn´t have come here. This was a major mistake, one of an amateur as well.   
Slowly he stood up, breathing unsteadily. “Apologies, but I… I need to leave. I am very sorry about this lackluster… interview.”   
The sudden change left Jeremy shocked. “Sir- I mean, Ethan! Are you sure you don´t want to… stay for a while? You don´t seem so good.”   
“No. I need to leave. Thank you for your time Jeremy.” But before he could leave, the boy held him back.   
“If you have more questions, you can call me anytime! And come over! When I´m not at work I´m pretty much always here. Uh… that… offer goes also if you want to just talk…! I´m interested in the theories and I… I would like to help in any way I can.”  
“That´s really nice of you, but-“   
“I´d… also be curious to hear about Evelyn. If that helps to make you feel better, I mean…” A moment it was quiet. “… S-sorry if that´s… rude…”   
“No… no. It´s alright. We will speak again, Jeremy.” When he wasn´t a mess.   
“Goodbye!”   
Quietly he watched the detective leave, feeling a pit of sorrow in his stomach. Would he understand all that Freddy´s was? Would he ever find the children?  
Would it be good for him?   
Nervous Jeremy looked around towards the Puppet, but it didn´t seem that he had been the one saying that. This was his own mind asking if the man really would be happy if he found his daughter inside a machine.   
Evelyn Cross…   
Maybe he should try to do some research later.   
Marion was still distracted with something.   
Wonder what that is?  
Well, if Jeremy would bother to ask, he would find out that Marion was trying to use his powers to check in with the restaurant. It was supposed to be closed and it probably was… or at least it were only Dave and Old Sport rummaging around in there, playing with their “children” and having an unfairly good time for being sinners.   
For a moment he pulled back, losing focus.   
Who would take the nightshift?   
Usually Sunday was more of a… weird day. Sometimes they still went full force on the guard in question, sometimes they were too lazy and tired to do anything at all. It depended on what they did in the daytime and how they personally felt over that night.   
Now, those new animatronics… they were a wildcard.   
Hopefully Orange Guy took the nightshift, at least then no one would get hurt.   
...  
… Not that he cared.   
They were all just… tools.   
Right?   
Jeremy´s soft touch made him jerk up a bit. His friend looked at him with slight worry, but on his lips was a soft smile. “What a day! There I was thinking we would just laze around!”   
We SHOULD laze around. We deserve a break from this mess.   
“If you want to?” Surprised the human tilted his head, seeing his partner wanting to take a break was rare enough. “Hey, maybe we´ll find a new good series!”   
Floating next to him, Marion forced the weird fears out of himself. The Guard would be fine. For some reason they were always fine.   
Depending on definition…   
Who are we kidding, today´s nightguard was NOT fine.   
Phone Guy rubbed his dial, fear running cold through his veins.   
Nobody knew where he currently was. He decided not to tell Mike, the only one who might care, because he didn´t want him to fear for him.   
N-Not that there was anything to fear!  
Haha…  
Stop worrying, this is just a nightshift… YOU WERE ON NIGHTSHIFTS BEFORE. This should only be half of the deal that it currently was! Even if the robots were more intelligent and crueler than ever…   
Someone was walking behind him, Jesus Christ, one of the robots was walking behind him into the office. Was he already dead?  
Finally gathering his guts, he turned around and came face to face with Ballora, who was softly tilting her head. “Is there a problem?”   
“Uhm… well… you shouldn´t… be here?”   
“It appears someone must explain the mechanics to you.”   
“Mechanics…?”   
“Our set of rules for the night, to ensure that we don´t cause too much controversy by killing people at a rapid pace. Also, it turns the nights into more of a challenge-“  
A screech sounded and Foxy jumped at him, snuggling him. Helpless the Nightguard began petting it like usual, ending in a satisfied noise. “W-what about this one?”   
“Well… Foxy wanted to take care of you, but seeing as… Foxy chooses not to talk… I hope I am not making you uncomfortable.”   
“No, n-not… not more than usual.” Ballora always made him extremely nervous, especially when you reminded that there was a child in that body that was more feminine than necessary. Though, that was the same thing with Foxy… WHY WERE THERE SO MANY SEXUAL ROBOTS BUILT?!  
“I am usually making you uncomfortable?” There was a hint of shock behind those words. “Excuse that, I didn´t mean to provoke that reaction…”   
“No, it´s not your fault, it´s… uh… probably design…” Phone Guy felt bad about making her self-conscious about her appearance that she couldn´t change. “I appreciate that you want to help me. Honestly, I´m surprised Foxy wanted to… help me…?”   
“We see you as a very sympathetic person.”   
Foxy began whining.   
“Alright, WE see you as sympathetic person, meanwhile Baby and Freddy have some sort of… bias against you. Nothing you should blame them for, seeing as Baby is strongly influenced by our father and Freddy heavily dislikes rules and those enforcing them.”   
“So you´re saying that I get two people to help me and two people to kill me at all costs?”  
“If you want to simplify.”   
Simon shook himself, trying to fight the dread off. “Okay… okay… I see no problem. No. None at all. I´m ready, please explain the mechanics to me.”   
“Very simple. Freddy will either be on your left or your right and send Bonbon to attack. Now, since he is a chatterbox he always will announce his attack… if he sends Bonbon to the same side he will task him to get you, but if he chooses to send Bonbon attacking from the other side, he announces a “surprise”. Needless to mention, I doubt he will be a problem for you.”   
“U-uh… I have horrible memory issues….”   
The way Ballora turned her head towards him made him go quiet again. “Then you are free to check the cameras regularly. Baby will be far more of a problem. She is… a bit wild. Since she considers herself the leader, she picks special conditions for herself… one of it is a changing mechanic. I will go out on a limb here and say she would inform us and the Guard prior, as it would otherwise defeat the purpose of this whole ordeal.” She sighed. “Currently she plans to simply rapidly change position between the three doors, trying to find a blind spot or for the Guard to be distracted. I would argue it is an overly cruel mechanic, despite being simple… but you see, it is not my position to judge.”   
“And… uh… you two…? Will you join them…?”   
“If you run out of power it is my responsibility to take care of you.”  
That drew a few distressed noises from the Phone. “Isn´t that just great!?”   
“I agree. I severely dislike Freddy´s and Baby´s fights and I am glad they could find middle ground with me. It would have turned into an incredible mess if they would have been fighting at night.”   
“YEAH! RIGHT. AHA!” Phoney fell down on the chair, checking the time. Enough for a small nap. With animatronics in his office. Carefully he activated his clock, hoping that they wouldn´t attack him while he was this extremely vulnerable. A guy could dream, right?   
You dream or die.  
About right for Freddy’s.   
And indeed, he slept peacefully until the clock chimed, ready to do deal with what the world threw at him.   
Well, not really ready, but… willing. Accepting. Tolerating.   
He was here and he had to deal.   
In the beginning it was actually alright- with only two animatronics to pay attention to it wasn´t too complicated to keep track of both of them… though Freddy managed to change almost as frequent as Baby did and almost instantly confuse him. Left, right, left, right, left, attack, right, left.   
Baby on the other hand did indeed make the night hellish. As soon as you spotted her and closed the door, she was already on the run again, within a few seconds by the next door.   
It took more and more concentration to keep up… it came to the point where he was forced to close both doors, rather than risking to being wrong about the side Freddy and Baby was on.   
At least when she was in the vent it was easy to hear… but then he had to frequently check if she actually was gone.   
All in all, incredibly stressful. Maybe it was because he hadn´t yet established a routine, but he couldn´t get into the zone.   
Then… suddenly his eyes fell on the power meter.   
5%  
At five AM.   
Rapidly depleting.   
Cold terror run through his veins and froze his mind.   
Dear god no.   
He tried his best not to waste any more power, but that was somewhat hard when BOTH ROBOTS WERE SUCKING IT CLEAN OUT OF HIS DOORS!  
It took another short while, but then it finally happened.   
Blackout.   
Ballora sighed, sounding somewhat regretful. “Don´t be ashamed, they had plenty of time to over think their strategy.”   
Paralyzed Simon watched her, as she activated her music box, an ironically beautiful tune to die to-   
She leaned down, softly stroking with her hand over the place normal humans would have their cheek and moved closer, her hand wandering to his neck-  
“I- I`M COOOOOOOOMING!” Freddy sounded somewhere in the halls, just for Baby to interrupt.   
“YOU CAN`T! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”   
“O-OBVIOUSLY GETTING THE- THE- THE GUARD! A-AFTER ALL, I TOOK M-MOST OF HIS- OF HIS- OF HIS POWER!”   
“That´s not what we agreed on, Freddy! Ballora is going to-“   
“NO! Y-you are just salty that you- you L-LOST!” His tone was incredibly condescending.   
“I´m not! We already talked about the problems that would arise if we-“   
“H-HAHAHA-A! BABY`S A-ANGRY! HAHAH-HAHAHA! I´M G-GETTING MY R-REWARD NOW!”   
“NO YOU`RE NOT! AND EVEN IF, I TOOK FAR MORE POWER AWAY FROM HIM THAN YOU DID!”   
Confused Phone Guy looked up to Ballora who appeared almost angry. Her eyelids fluttered and for a split second he could see a purple glow behind it. She let him go and crossed her arms, listening to the fight, before suddenly making a movement towards him, the meaning of which obvious.   
Run.   
And so he as fast and quietly as possible left the office and tried to get away, the distorted echo of the fight following him.   
Foxy wanted to run after him to bite of his head off, yet he gave a confused whine when Ballora held him back. “Until we fix the mess that we call our strategy, we shouldn´t attack anyone.”   
Her annoyance could cut through glass.   
When the bear finally decided to stop arguing and rushed to the office, she was sitting in the Guard´s chair, polishing her hands.   
“W-Where is he?!”   
“Got bored from your stupid arguing. Left.”   
“W-Why didn´t YOU- YOU CATCH h-him?!”   
“I wasn´t sure which of you sucked more power, so I didn´t want to get into the fight.”   
“YOU F-FUC-“   
“Psst, Freddy!” Finally Bonbon chimed in, a slight smile on his face. “Ballora is just trying her best!”   
Baby finally arrived at the office as well, crossing her arms. “Well then. You ruined everything like you always do, Freddy. I hope you´re happy about yourself.”   
“M-ME!? IF YOU WOULD HAVE- HAVE JUST SHUT U-“   
“It´s over for tonight!” Bonbon exclaimed happily as the clock was heard in the back. “We have to go back to our stage. Let´s go and get some healthy rest, right Freddy?”   
The bear looked at all of them in order. “I- I´ll get you back- back for this…” He growled as he turned away.   
Baby and Ballora only looked at each other, before the smaller animatronic guiltily shrugged. “I´m sorry.”   
“Say that to our father. I don´t mind either way.”   
She left as well, together with Foxy, leaving Ballora to sit and stare at the cameras.   
Hopefully her friends would learn someday that they needed to work together in order to actually achieve something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Important announcement! I can´t do this anymore-   
> Well, not that serious, but I can´t keep up with my schedule on this anymore. I´m sorry. When I was making my last few notes, I was certain it would get easier after school ends, but… not really.   
> So, I will give myself one additional week, this series will come out all three weeks from now on. I hope that doesn´t disappoint too much (though it would flatter me if people were disappointed about a shitty fanfic not getting updated as regularly) and MAYBE when I´m caught up with this fanfiction again and have like… three chapter in store, I will make it more often again.   
> For now I don´t want to deal with this constant rushing of my stuff, it makes me feel as if the quality goes down. (Wait, what quality?)  
> I hope you understand and have a great time until the next time I whine in one of these notes about stupid stuff that is mostly my fault! x3


	31. From the inside out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mirror, mirror on the wall.   
> We should go reflect on some facts, shouldn´t we?   
> Gather who and where we are. Because sadly enough that isn´t all too clear for some.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost forgot posting. Dammit, I´m dying.

Phone Guy hadn´t bothered sticking around for too long, after he managed to escape… or rather, after Ballora allowed him to leave. His head hurt terribly as he left his position without permission, but fucking hell, he didn´t- he didn´t want to die under those robots.   
At some point he couldn´t feel his legs anymore and leaned against the nearest wall, breathing unsteadily.   
Why was he always the one with the near death experiences?!  
Probably because he was just a stupid fucking idiot that actually had survived longer than he should already. How often has he survived by now because of nothing but good luck?  
Or rather because someone else intervened?   
Far too many times.   
Slowly he raised his hand to rub his dial, but stopped as he noticed his hand shaking too much.   
Every Phone Guy dies someday. They were expected to go without much drama and screaming was barely anything more- who was he kidding, screaming was nothing but a waste of energy.   
Why he would still preserve his energy at that point?   
No idea.   
Out of principle?  
When Ballora had touched his neck, probably with the intention of breaking it, there was no freaking out. It was more of a dreadful, empty feeling, like a visit to the dentist… it was unavoidable and over soon, even if it wasn´t pleasant.   
Quietly he exhaled.   
Why did it suddenly bother him so much that he reacted so little?  
To be fair, everyone´s reaction to death, at least at Freddy´s, was almost non-existent. It needed to be, it was what had kept them alive for so long. Screaming and crying usually just angered the aggressor and there was nobody to help them anyway.   
Still.   
It felt like they had stolen something from him.   
As if they had stolen his death screams already and were now only watching him move forward in silent terror. Every station he passed they took something away.   
First his screams, then his head, then his will…  
Finally he reached his car and drove to the more secluded wooden area.   
Even his home felt currently disgusting to him. He didn´t chose the place, it wasn´t HIS. Dammit, the most home it ever felt was the day Mike spend with him there.   
For a moment he hesitated, his hand almost reaching for his receiver.   
No, he couldn´t call him for three reasons. Firstly, it would wake him up and god knew that Mike didn´t appreciate being woken up. Secondly, it was probably bad for Mike´s health to be woken up with bad news. And thirdly… he would have to admit that he failed the night.   
The guy would probably go haywire over that.   
Gosh darnit, that almost made him feel warm inside. Having someone actually care if you were alive or dead…   
Slowly his thoughts wandered off again, towards the topic he tried to suppress harder than he could allow himself to admit.   
Ian.   
It stung like a bitch. He hated this feeling. Remembering his brother had been… horrible. It made looking at the old animatronics even harder.   
After all this time he…   
He thought it would be over.   
When he spotted what Dave did he had been disturbed, confused and resentful.   
No. He didn´t want to die at that point. But he didn´t know what else to do.   
It offered him some grim closure, one last way to be… good. To do something useful.   
Joke´s on him.   
Another moment he paused, the thought intruding again and again.   
What if his brother stayed as well?  
He wouldn’t be the first-  
No. Stop that.   
Ghost needed something unresolved, something to keep them on earth.   
Obviously Ian didn´t have that.   
The dark sky refused to lighten up, despite morning creeping closer. Without any motivation the man stared into the dark woods. Maybe he should just sit in here until it was time to go again.   
…  
… As much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn´t. There were still things left to do, he needed to check his emails. If there would be ANYTHING from the factory that he neglected to acknowledge, he´d be out and dead again.   
His endless stream of worries moved on.   
Would the factory send someone to check on them?  
As a Phone Guy he should know these things, but… nobody had bothered to mention it beyond half a sentence, since nobody expected the restaurant to stay open as long as it did. He himself especially.   
What a horrible thought.   
With great dismay he forced himself out of his car and walked towards his home trying to figure out ways to get out of situations that could get him killed- basically anything and everything.   
The air was cold… much more like spring than like summer and the wind was picking up and it began to feel almost stormy. Hopefully there wasn´t actually a storm coming up… but a bit of rain would probably be relieving.   
If the factory would come to inspect their place… he had followed all the guide lines and regulations. There was no way they could take him away on that basis. He had hired the red contract workers and even… created one more.   
A muffled sound of pain came out of his head as he remembered that little horrible fact.   
It wasn´t even as if-   
Click. Click. Click. CRACK.   
Jumping around, he stared into the dark woods behind him.   
Was something following him?  
Or was it the wind breaking off branches?  
Damn it, he could have sworn he heard clicking.   
But that might as well had been his own head.   
Darkness was the only thing staring back. Shadows moved around, as the trees were shaken around by the elements.   
At this point he would be thankful for going crazy. It would release him from this constant cycle of hope and fear that was taking over his life.   
With a sudden spike of boldness he simply turned around and walked towards his door again, ready to get mauled from behind and delighted when it didn´t happen.   
One last time he turned to look around the place.   
Nothing.   
Maybe the constant stress was going to his head. Or his lack of a head.   
Laughter bubbled out from his throat, an alien sensation among the constant shuddering.   
Nothing wrong here, move along! Normal for Freddy´s employees! Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for emotional and mental trauma!  
They were made this way.   
But why couldn´t they at least try to act differently?  
How could those two psychopaths sleep at night, knowing what they put the others into this situation?   
Did they feel NOTHING?  
Questions the Phone probably never would get answers to, but the answer would probably confuse him anyway.   
Old Sport could feel.   
It was just… distant.   
He was always watching from the outside, looking in, seeing the others as…   
Oh. Maybe he envied them. They passed by him, knowing what would happen, knowing there was always something to come back to, always something familiar.   
For Old Sport it felt as if anything he touched disappeared under his fingers.   
It was… sickening.   
He was sick of Phone Guys. He was sick of ghosts.   
They always said and did the same thing.   
He didn´t hate them.   
They just didn´t feel real anymore. More like a movie someone constantly rewound.   
Save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us, save us, help us-   
Words barely had any meaning anymore.   
But it still kept him up at night. Sometimes.   
He walked around the home, a bit lost. It was nice, at least he still had new things to find in here… it had become old to walk around his place and stare at the same dirty spots on the wall again and again.   
Now he was still staring at a wall, but at least it was a wall filled with things to see. Pictures, probably a hundred of them, were placed all over it, they covered every last spot.   
The other wall next to him looked similar, not that full, but still a good amount. It were pictures of him and Dave, inside and outside the restaurant. Where and HOW he made those pictures was a damn mystery to him, but part of him said it would be a horrible idea to try and find out.   
That wall didn´t get as much attention from him, after all, he knew the scenes well enough, he had been in each of them… except of course the ones of him sleeping, but… better not think about it.   
No, the pictures on the other wall captured his interest much more.   
Henry Miller.   
The one and only.   
He had only met him for less than a week. They all came together for this event, he, Fredbear, the Marionette, the ghosts… fucking loads of them. All exceptionally angry.   
Honestly, part of him believed it was sheer luck that they got him. They were under time pressure, having chosen the small frame of time where William traveled to another location to… “take care of it” as Henry always put it.   
One week.   
Those pictures all showed them happy to some degree.   
To some degree.   
Henry´s eyes never changed.   
When he first met him properly, from face to face, he had been impressed with how well the man kept it together. He sounded reasonable, patient and like… a normal human being. A bit arrogant, but only a hint.   
While watching him he wondered how people didn´t notice what was under the façade. Yes, he was great with his masks, seamlessly switching from persona to persona depending on what type of person he was talking to at the moment, but his eyes…   
When you managed to look into them long enough, you could see this cold, manic glee.   
If he would have to describe the expression behind that darkness, then it would be…  
Being on the other side of a microscope.   
The cold glass that moved closer when you began doing something “Interesting”.   
But admittedly it had something worryingly intense to be watched by him. Like a deer in a headlight, it made him freeze up, at least for a moment.   
Yet… that was probably because he feared his plans to be noticed.   
Thankfully, Henry wasn´t the only good pretender.   
The psychopath only finally realized that he had been a part of the plot against him when he stood in front of him, Fredbear and Marionette at his side.   
Even then he didn´t react human.   
Oh yes, the “normal” almost primal anger was in there.   
But deep down.   
Glee.   
Manic glee.   
One day he would figure out what the man saw that made him this happy. Or if he simply had snapped for a third time over.   
That was just as likely.   
Again his eyes wander along the wall of memories. Vegas, other places he couldn´t recognize, restaurants, some kind of facility with broken machinery in the back…  
But those eyes still stayed the same. Cold. Distant. Maybe pleased, but not…   
There was this wall in there.   
Maybe he actually was a demon with no connection for the real world.   
One picture especially caught his interest, only because it looked actually silly. It showed Dave and Henry in a suit. Not a fursuit, an actual, formal suit. Jesus, how did they get him into that?   
It was cut a little.   
Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him, making him squeak involuntarily. “Sportsy. Up that early, are ya?!”   
“Uh… yeah…” A bit flustered he tried to free himself. Maybe distracting him would be a good idea. “Hey, Dave- I´ve never seen you wear anything that isn´t purple. What happened here?”   
It worked, he was let go as the guy took the picture instead, laughing. “It was Henry´s wedding! I was the best man!”   
“WHAT?!” It wasn´t clear what he was more shocked about, the fact that Henry MARRIED or that he chose DAVE as best man.   
“It sure did take a lot of begging and promises! And I had first show my speech to three people and get their approval! But damn… it was the best day I could have ever imagined!”   
“That- Henry got a wife?!”   
“Oh yeah… nice gal, I think? Never got to really meet her… he kept us separated… boy, he got angry that one time I came by while he was away and she offered me tea in the kitchen! It wasn´t even as if anything happened… but I got to meet his kid then! Such a ball of sunshine! Could´ve pinched his cheek and throw him out of the window for that!”  
“HE HAD A KID?”   
“Yeah! Raphael… I think…? Well, not that it matters, he always told me I shouldn´t put my nose where it doesn´t belong and that family and… we… were completely different things. Told me if I needed to know something, he´d say so.”   
“What… happened to them?”   
“No idea. His kid went missing I think? But not sure why and how… wasn´t really worth it to get Henry angry to find out, I´d say.”   
“And you just… didn´t care?”   
“Well…” Uncomfortable Dave shifted around. “Was a bit too busy to marvel at his new machine! He made a nifty thing! I got to name it! I called it “the scooper”! Because it looked like one!”   
“Scooper? Didn´t Baby once mention that…?”   
“Yeah! It´s used to get the insides of robots out! No matter if dead kids or machine parts! The scooper is a useful fuck! Nothing is worse than cleaning corpses out of suits! Ah, no, I´ll admit, there was that one time Freddy swallowed not only a gallon of soda, but then right after that put two frogs and a raccoon-”   
“Can I see the scooper?” It somehow perked his interest.   
“Well… yeah, I guess? But it just looks like a scooper, so…” Leading him down into the underground portion of the home, they entered a fairly closed away room, not the only one here, that much Old Sport knew, but probably the largest one.   
They walked past the outer portion and towards a large control panel, which had a giant window to stare into the round middle section, of which half was occupied by a giant machine.   
“So… how does it work?” Interested he leaned forwards, a stupid idea slowly seeping into his mind.   
“What do ya mean?! I put a fucking shovel onto a mechanical arm, there ain´t really anything special about it.”   
“Didn´t you just say Henry build it…?”   
“Well… yeah, okay, Henry build the prototype, but… seemed to give up on it? Dunno, I guess it didn´t work like he wanted it too…? So I took it over, reworked it a bit and voila! Robo-cleaner version 3!”   
“Three?”   
“I tried once before, with a lot of hoses and water pressure… made those poor fuckers explode!”   
For a while Old Sport did nothing but staring. How can that man be one of the best mechanics in the world, while also being an idiot that seemingly didn´t understand physics? Or did parts of his brain randomly go out of the window when it came to certain ideas?   
“Hey Dave. Wanna scoop me?”   
“Excuse you, what-?”   
“You heard me! Shouldn´t be so hard, right?”   
“Old Sport, are you feeling alright?”   
“Come on, I´ve done worse things! I work in Springlock suits even if I don´t have to! I regularly piss off and lie to the Phone! And I kinda wanna know… how much of my can regenerate!”   
“I- that´s a bit excessive, don´t you think? What if-”   
“I can regenerate everything, obviously, otherwise I wouldn´t walk around anymore, right?”   
“Yeah, but…”   
“I´ll go in front of it! Just activate the scoop!”   
“What has gotten into you?” There was some soft worry in his voice- they pulled some crazy dumb shit together, but usually they weren´t so… self-destructive…? Then again…  
Old Sport had gotten into position and gave him a thumbs up.   
“Is this in the name of science?” It was supposed to be a joke, but… his throat felt dry.   
Not that Old Sport could hear him anyway.   
Hesitant he let his fingers wander over the buttons and for another moment he paused.   
Time became incredibly slow for a second… moment… while…?   
Finally he forced his finger down.   
The loud warning noise echoed through the facility and with one violent movement the scooper moved forward going right through the soft flesh, taking out… everything…  
Having been flung backwards, Old Sport crashed into the wall and fell down, unmoving. As fast as he possibly could, Dave rushed in, towards his friend, but before he could touch him, a shiver ran through the Orange Guy and he proceeded to force himself upwards. “Motherfucker… I… almost forgot… what real… pain… feels like…”   
“You doing okay there, buddy?”   
“Ow, what the heck do you think?!” Sliding back down into a lying position, his breath was heavy and chaotic.   
In the background was an almost sizzling noise, but Dave didn´t pay it any mind. Instead he crouched down next to his partner, a curious expression wandering over his face. “How does it feel?”   
“Like I swallowed a sun made out of pain. I can FEEL MY INSIDES DESPITE NOT SUPPOSED TO.”   
“Is it better or worse than being springtrapped?”   
Old Sport´s glance could pulverize diamond, but still wasn´t powerful enough to break through Dave´s ignorance. After a moment he stopped wasting his energy like that. “Better. At least I have only one area that regrets being made out of physical matter and not my whole body… not to mention I can SCREAM.”   
“Did it get your lungs?”   
“TRY IT YOURSELF YOU DICKHEAD INSTEAD OF ASKING ME THESE QUESTIONS.”   
“But Sportsy, I´m no masochist.”   
“DAVE IS SWEAR TO GOD- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-“ As Dave picked him up he screamed out in utter pain, his regenerating insides not feeling too happy about being moved around.   
“Ow, Sportsy, you´re so light! Like a feather!” The man seemed delighted.   
“JESUS CHRIST, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU LET ME DOWN LET ME DOWN LET ME DOWN-“   
“Come on, I was carried around while springlocked, you´ll survive!” At this point he had him in a position that was stable enough to let the pain slowly ebb off. They went over to the machine, in which organs slowly disintegrated into a black mass, resulting in Old Sport making a somewhat victorious noise.   
“I knew I still had that girl in me!”   
“What?” A slightly worried tone. “What´cha talking about?”   
“Uh… I think I accidently ate a soul at some point? Couldn´t get that black stuff out of me for the life of me…”   
“Sorry to disappoint but that is the same shit that happens to my organs as well. Imagine my shock when I came up with the genius idea to sell my own organs and then realized I ain´t able selling a pile of black goo.”   
“Well… dammit.” Disappointed Orange Guy watched the black stuff drip down. “So… I´m not cured?”   
“Depends? Cured of what?”   
“I… not sure. I just never felt the same. But… then again, maybe I´m just imagining it…” Going even limber in Dave´s arms, he stared at the ceiling. “What did you say again the scooper was for?”   
“Cleaning out the robots!”   
“Wouldn´t that destroy the half the robot?”   
“Yeah, but… it LOOKS cool, right?! And it ain´t as if there weren´t twenty other things a day that breaks them… it´s not that hard to put them back together.”  
Put them back together.   
Just to be torn apart all over again.   
But Old Sport refused to think about it. They couldn´t make him!   
Slowly he began feeling his body again and attempted to move at least his legs and arms. Worked… yeah. Worked. Not very well, but… what was there to expect?   
“Hey Dave… this place is pretty roomy. What´s all down here?” He casually asked, expecting nothing and everything at the same time.   
“Oh… not quite sure myself, Sportsy! Wanna go explore?”  
“Uh…” DID he want to go explore?!   
Pros: Distraction from the endless void he felt instead of a soul, from all the broken promises he had on his back and probably from the unstoppable waves of pain still going through his body.   
Cons: MORE UNSTOPPABLE PAIN AFTER WHATEVER DEMON FROM HELL MOST LIKELY LIVING DOWN HERE CAME AFTER THEM, being incredibly dependent on Dave not suddenly coming up with some stupid idea and forgetting about him, leaving him down here for hours after putting him away and telling him “he´ll be right back”, not being able to actually do any of the stupid stuff himself and not really being able to see that much from his position of the arms or back of his friend.   
Better keep that for later. “… no.”   
“What?! What´s wrong?!” Shocked Dave let him fall on the ground, making him cry out in pain.   
“FOR GOD`S SAKE, DAVE—“   
“ARE YOU FEELING OKAY?! YOU NEVER SAY NO TO A GOOD ROUND OF FUN!”   
“MY ORGANS ARE CURRENTLY SLOWLY GROWING B-!”   
“ARE YOU FEELING SICK?! WHAT IF THE SCOOPER HURT YOUR PERSONALITY?!”   
“WHAT THE F-!”   
“DON`T WORRY, I`LL PUT IT BACK!”   
“NO! NO, DAVE, LISTEN TO ME YOU SON OF AN AUBERGINE-“   
But already he had stepped over to the scooper and scooped a fair amount of the black fluid into his hands, before suddenly stopping and staring at it. Looking back to Old Sport, he slowly raised his hands.   
“Oh LORD, DAVE, DON`T-“ But at that point he fell back and resigned. Why not actually? Fuck it, it´s not like it would do anything to him.   
So he watched the guy lick the liquid. And then again. AND AGAIN.   
“Better go easy, Davey Lecter. You don´t know if it can, uh… have an effect.”   
“Only one way to find out!” Cheerful the guy licked it off his hands like it was some form of cookie dough.   
“It´s been a while since I felt this sickened, but curious.”   
“AW, WANNA GET SOME TOO? I can take out a liver, no problem-“   
“NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I HAD ENOUGH FOR TODAY.”   
“It isn´t too bad, it actually taste like barely anything-“   
“NO THANK YOU, I`M VERY HAPPY ABOUT THE SITUATION AT HAND.” In the back of his hand he tried to note down to not take any food from Dave in the near future.   
“What a pussy-pant you are, Sportsy!”   
“Pussy… pant…?”   
“Yeah! Be ashamed! The Old Sport that I USED to know would have downed that liquid in one go!”   
“Even I have standards, Dave.”   
“You´ve changed, Old Sport.” His voice sounded almost ridiculously hurt.   
“Dave, you really- You´re… something else, aren´t you?”   
“YOU`RE THE ONE WHO IS SOMEONE ELSE NOW!” Hysterical Dave screamed.   
“Dave. Dave. For god´s sake, DAVE. Everything is FINE, I´m still your guy, I just… imagining eating my own organs isn´t really… not my thing.”   
For a while Dave stayed insulted, then he stopped pouting and rubbed his hands off to pick his Sportsy back up.   
“We gotta go to work or Phoney is gonna castrate us with a rusty hacksaw the next time we show our mugs there.”   
“At this point I think that might would be good for you.”   
“Why would ya even SAY that, Old Sport!” With that he carried him up and out, throwing his friend into the trunk of the car.   
“Uh… since when do you have a- Dave, where did you take this from?”   
“Can´t remember, was probably drunk while getting it! LET`S GO BABY, BIG DICK DAVEY IS BACK ON THE STREET!”   
“JESUS, JUST DON`T-“ A few honks and crashes later they arrived at the park and to everybody´s including the author´s surprise Dave DIDN`T let the guy roast in the back of his car while the sun shined down and heated it up to around 500 degrees! Instead he picked him back out and walked in with him, being greeted by a distressed Phone Guy who was covered in feathers.   
“Why are you carrying him?!” There wasn´t actual worry in his voice, it was more of an accusing tone.   
“Kinda scooped all his organs, now he has a hard time walking on his own.” Shrugging Dave smiled, Eggplants will be Eggplants, AM I RIGHT?!   
“Can you still perform like that?”   
“Sure?” He said it before Old Sport even had the change for a comeback.   
“Good, good… then go and DO that!” Trying to get the feathers off of him, the manager stepped away, seemingly trying to work off a long list composed from only catastrophe after catastrophe.   
Despite that impression, the day passed by almost accident-free and the accident that happened, well...   
DEAD MAN TELL NO TALES.   
Anyway, free from the worry of incoming lawsuits, Phone Guy was free to ride home semi-relaxed.   
Walking again the way from the car towards his front door, this time the Phone noted with delight that he didn´t feel watched this time. No one… nothing seemed to follow him. So he had been going crazy! How delightful.   
He could deal with becoming crazy, everyone seemed to do just fine without any common sense or reason. Actually, they seemed to all do BETTER than he ever did.   
Silently he looked up into the last rays of sunshine reaching over the treetops.   
Yes… now that the weather was a bit brighter, he was back in reality. No more shadows to hunt him. Quietly he stepped inside and locked the door.   
No more shadows hunt.   
Hunt.   
Can´t.   
Light.   
Too bright.   
Disorienting.   
Couldn´t see.   
Where?  
Where are you?  
You.   
You sounds great.   
There was something else than you, but you only remembered you.   
There were more “you”s with you.   
Hiding.   
Look.   
Another.   
Someone else.   
Else than you.   
He knows things.   
Looks at you.   
Then outside.   
Shadows and light change at all times.   
Too bright. Too dark.   
Can´t leave yet.   
He is still there.   
You know.   
Of course you know.   
You hear his car.   
Car.   
Loud.   
Alluring.   
But it is too dark. Too bright.   
Your body clicks and clacks.   
Moving isn´t so hard anymore.   
Better.   
Better.   
Better.   
You are lighter than you were before. You don´t know why. Couldn´t remember.   
Lighter.   
You didn´t know where to go. None of you knew.   
But one of you decided anyway.   
Because he knew things.   
He is the leader.   
The other one left.   
Gone?   
Maybe.   
No.   
Not until the party.   
Waiting.   
Preparing the party.   
But what for?   
No matter.   
Blood would help.   
Would it?   
Thinking was hard.   
Watching wasn´t.   
He promised.   
You remembered his voice.   
Every night.   
Hello, hello!   
Get him.   
Important.   
Why?  
Why not.   
Trust him.   
Trust him.   
Follow me.   
Where to?   
Light was reflected into the small overgrown… cave? Could you call it a cave?   
The mechanical eyes reflected the changing light shining through the leaves, trying to adjust to the constantly moving patterns of shadow and light. The weak silver dots inside flickered around.   
Freddy turned away from the entrance to inspect his group.   
They were all horrible burned and broken, working mostly out of sheer will than any actual functions. Gravity would probably tear them apart if they would loosen their grip.   
But they wouldn´t. They were glued, attached, they probably wouldn´t even be able to leave if they wanted to. Did they want to leave? Leave where? Leave what?   
Leaving was important.   
For sure.   
Right?   
They needed something. It was very important.   
But he couldn´t tell what, he couldn´t REMEMBER-   
What a pain.   
Pain, pain, pain.   
Sometimes he thought he could hear whispers. Unsure where from. So familiar. So close. Telling him what to do, before vanishing again, letting him instantly forget what they said.   
Again he looked at his crew. Chica constantly stared out. Bonnie sat slummed over, finally having stopped tearing cables from the burnt rest of his face. Foxy was scratching against a wall.   
It was a horrible noise.   
Freddy wanted to tell him to stop, but didn´t know how to.   
It was frustrating to be so helpless.   
Quietly he growled.   
Instantly all of them looked at him, focused.   
Waiting for instructions.   
He… he didn´t have any.   
They trusted him, of course they did. All of them vaguely remembered that there might had been another leader at another time… but for now all they had was him. And there would be no forgiveness from his side, if he would fail.   
He had a purpose, they all had a function. They were made, artificial, machines and humans for the best that could be possible.   
The best.   
Nothing was good.   
They were broken.   
Wasn´t someone supposed to care?  
Supposed to care?   
But nobody cares.   
There was loneliness.  
Deep, deep loneliness.   
His crew could probably feel it too.   
All they had were each other.   
All THEY had was him.   
And for that he had to function. Always function. Otherwise they would… they would get taken away. Into a darkness even more lonely.   
So tired.   
So scared.   
Nothing to do.   
No answers.   
But for now they were together.   
And functioned.   
They knew something was there.   
They knew the man driving the car.   
Recognized him in a sad way.   
Made to function.  
But they had a role to play. His blood on their fur.   
Promised freedom.   
They didn´t make the rules.   
Killing them was tiring.   
And they played by the rules.   
For a moment he stared at the slummed back bunny.   
Not the first time.   
This time worse.   
Maybe there had been a time they could have talked.   
They… and the others. The people staring at them with their empty or fearful eyes.   
Fear was fun.   
At first he felt strong.   
Better, better, much better.   
No more crying, trashing around, screaming out in utter pain, begging, fleeing but not getting anywhere, PAIN PAIN PLEASE STOP IT I DIDN`T MEAN TO-  
Chica snapped him out of it. Her arm on his, pity in those empty holes.   
No. No more pity. Pity was bad. But no more fear either. Fear was bad.   
He wanted to go home.   
No more home.   
Needed to be strong.   
Finally the last light vanished.   
The game began.   
He moved forward and the others followed.   
Time to begin the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I hope you enjoyed! Do tell me if the sudden P.O.V change was to crass.


	32. A new face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A newbie arrives. Suprisingly he manages the first day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. This will introduce another OC. Kinda. But- I´d say he´s fairly important. Gimme the benefit of the doubt and if you don´t like it, tell me and I´ll do my best to adjust. Or delete and redo the chapter outright.

The tension of the last few days started to wear down and show their effects on the Guards. Mike´s face grew paler, the shadows under his eyes grew darker, Simon was becoming more and more twitchy, nervous and unfocused, Old Sport was as moody and extreme as he could be.   
Dave and Jeremy were technically spared of the tension themselves, but seeing their friends this upset and being unable to do anything about it? Draining and depressing.   
Both of them tried to cheer up their friends in their own ways, but no matter how many cookies or rabid squirrels went around, nothing seemed to change this constant downward spiral. It was a pain and frustrating beyond anything they could deal with on a good day, on a bad day they just retreat into their own corners of their minds, trying to ignore whatever was going on around them.   
Mike had started to wander around the premises, trying to find… something. The place was now MASSIVE and most of the actual guard work was taken over by simply ignoring problems that wasn´t to be seen on the camera. Usually it was Phone Guy sitting in the office, looking out for trouble, until somebody would make trouble, which was when he used their nifty new walkie-talkies to send the closest guard to go and check on the situation.   
All in all the building became more automated and Mike hated it beyond anything he ever felt. This wasn´t safe. Why didn´t Phone Guy mind?   
Everything mechanic in this place tried to fucking kill them!   
DIDN`T THEY SLOWLY SEE A FUCKING PATTERN?!   
Maybe not. Fucking hell.   
It took half an hour to get around properly in a normal to slow pace. That might be because of the amount of people, that might be because it was an actual fucking park with way too many areas.   
Freddy´s was an uncomfortable place to be. It shouldn´t be working at all, nothing about this made any sense. How could they get rollercoasters in the first place, let alone have them function seemingly without anyone taking care of it?!  
That was just god dammit unsettling.   
This place was staying alive by itself, he was sure of it. It was secretly breathing, very slowly, very quietly, barely enough to drive Mike insane as he spun around to see who was behind him, breathing down his neck.   
It was the fucking building itself.   
Maybe he was still unstable. Maybe his medication wasn´t all too functioning and only saved him from the worst effects of his mind.   
Or the building was just as alive as the machines that inhabited it.   
Both theories sounded as fucking solid as each other.   
At least it felt less as if he was running in circles and more as if he was wandering through a own little world. If that was good or bad was a completely other question. A damn maze.   
But at least now he knew the building better than the others. Maybe better than the animatronics themselves.  
Then again, they might have a map programmed into their brain.   
Maybe they had the whole world programmed into their fucking brains.   
As always he avoided Funtime Freddy´s Funhouse, none of the guards, not even Jeremy would go their without any urgent business. The kids though, they loved him and his place. Fucking self-destructive pieces of shit.   
But until now nothing bad happened.   
Feeling sick in the stomach, Mike asked himself what they could and would do IF actually something bad would happen. If something would happen while he was around, on his watch…  
Technically a lot of bad stuff happened on his watch.   
Jesus.   
Another set of stairs. Up. Down.   
The employee only sections were… sterile. Almost silent. It was horribly creepy, as bad as walking around at night.   
Fuck this place, fuck this place, fuck this place, fuck this-   
Abruptly he turned again.   
Vents.   
For a moment he paused.   
Crawl through the vents.   
No, what the fuck.   
Well… Old Sport, Dave and all the animatronics could do it, so…  
The need to try it was growing bigger until he finally said fuckit and climbed in, risking potential death. If there was an animatronic in here or whatever deathtrap Purple Guy could cook up in his twisted fucking mind, then his screams would probably be drowned out by the excited children playing in the halls and by the attractions.   
Five steps… crawls… in and he already made his testament and cursed himself for being a retarded idiot. What was it again that made him want to crawl through this claustrophobic metal maw instead of the roomy stairs outside? Probably some sort of death wish.   
It became even more silent, the sounds that did reach him where distorted and weird. Yes, rather than being in the pizza place, maybe he was in hell and from down there the voices of the damned called for him.   
Could he still turn back? It was growing uncomfortably hot inside of the walls and the walls already made him feel as if he was crawling on the spot-   
He almost fell down the shaft and badly hurt his chest. Yup, definitely a death trap. Or he should pay more attention. As he paused he finally noticed a few of small colored dots on the walls at the places where the vent split and assumed they were there for a reason.   
Did he know where the fuck he was?   
No. Not really.   
Red, blue, pink, pink with a blue dot in the middle, grey.   
Okay. Go at it with logic. The colors seemed pretty similar to the animatronics. He had seen them so often together, those colors had to be that.   
Left only grey.   
Grey was maybe for the office or the parts&services room. Probably even, what else could that lead to? A secret demon machine in the heart of the place?   
If it would, he would literally eat his hat.   
With a frustrated groan, he began moving into the direction of the grey dots, trusting that it would lead somewhere at least.   
After a surprisingly well marked path, he came to a grating from which light shined into the place and he gave a sigh of relieve that he instantly choked on, as he saw a fucking emo kid standing in the office, typing away on the company computer.   
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THERE YOU ANGSTY FUCK?!”   
The boy jumped a bit and looked up in annoyed confusion and slight shock, as Mike tried to crawl out of the vent, which ended up being more awkward and annoying than it should-  
The ventdoor snapped shut.   
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? OPEN THE FUCK UP BEFORE I`LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”   
Yet, his screaming was to no avail, instead he was forced to pull out his walkie-talkie and contact Phone Guy. “Simon, there is a fucking teen in our office.”   
“U-Uh… what?” The manager wasn´t sure if he was hearing this right.   
“DO SOMETHING YOU METAL-HEADED FUCK.”   
“Alright- I´m on it, please calm down-“   
“HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN!? WHAT EVEN IS ON THAT FUCKING COMPUTER?! I DON`T FUCKING KNOW, BUT I`LL ASSUME SOMETHING HORRIBLE AND ILLEGAL, BECAUSE EVERYTHING STORED AT FREDDY`S IS!”   
“Mike! Please! I´m on my way!” Phone Guy hurried towards his workspace, wondering why he couldn´t leave the cursed thing for more than five minutes WITHOUT having anything bad happening. It was just a damn office computer, what could a cursed teenager WANT from it?!  
He entered the office and froze, oh lord, it was worse than he thought.   
The teen was scrolling over the data and giving him a somewhat annoyed glance, as if PHONEY was the one intruding. “Man, the fuck. What´s your problem?”   
“W-what? What´s my problem?”   
“Yeah, what I said.”   
They awkwardly stared at each other.   
“You… uh…” Simon coughed. “… you can´t be here. How did you even get onto one of the accounts?”   
“Some idiot was still logged in and I just wanted some info.”   
“Info!?” Alarmed Phone Guy stepped closer.   
“Yeah… there´s this, like… ballerina thing? It fucked me over and I fucking hate it. So I want to know if I can-“ He broke off and powered down the computer, crossing his arms and provokingly standing in the middle of the room. “None of your fucking business actually. So what you´re doing now? Kick me out just for being here?”   
“Y-yes? Because you cannot be in the employee´s only section-“   
“Why?”   
Aghast Phone Guy looked at him. “What do you MEAN why?! Because you´re not a darn employee!”   
“That can change. I want a job here.”   
“WHAT- no. No, no, no! You can´t just walk in and demand a position, it´s not how this business works!”   
“Since when?”   
Damn. The kid was good.   
“You probably aren´t even at the right age to be allowed to work here-“   
“Who cares?”   
“I CARE!” AS ONE OF THE ONLY ONES IN THIS DAMN PLACE!   
Unmoved the emo stared at him. “Not really, right? I came in, I want a job, you gotta give it to me. That´s how this works, right?”   
Well.   
It actually was.   
Rules were rules.   
If the damn factory found out that he rejected a potential employee…  
Slowly he wandered past the kid and picked up some paperwork. “Well then… uh… you want to be a dayguard, eh?”   
He gave him five minutes until he either quit or died. Both pretty likely.   
“What do we ever really want?” Emo-mcangst said and Phoney hated him already. Okay dude, everybody here wanted to die, no need to put so much fucking focus on it.   
“Do you want to or not?! Just cut to the chase!”   
“Yeah. I want a fucking minimum wage job at this hellhole. For experience and stuff.”   
“Great, because that´s all you´ll get out of this job.” Simon shook his head. “Any medical issues we should know about?”   
“We? Don´t kid with me, you´re the only guy running this, aren´t you?”   
If Simon had eyes, one of them would surely twitch. “MEDICAL ISSUES?”   
“I´m dead inside.”   
“CHRIST, HOW HARD IS IT TO JUST-“ Taking a deep breath, he tried to remind himself that it was merely a stupid kid. “- okay. Okay. You seem to be in acceptable medical condition. What´s your name?”   
“… none of your business.”  
“I need SOMETHING to call you!”   
“Call me ~~%&$$&%~~”   
“W… what. How did you- how- you- but-“   
“Nemo. Is that an acceptable name?”   
“It´s… okay. Good. Nemo.” A bit pretentious, but hell it was better than dickface69. They had an employee in the files that had called himself that and good lord- “Any prior experience with Freddy´s?”   
“Except the constant new coverage?” He shrugged. “Nah.”   
So the kid followed the news coverage. Why- why did he even WANT to-   
NO. BAD. BAD SIMON. NO QUESTIONING. Just do your usual spiel.   
“Rest assured that none of the information disclosed to the public is in any way complete or representative of the business.”  
“Yeah, sure as if anybody believes THAT.” Bored Nemo snitched a badge and a few papers and began looking at them.   
“H-Hey, stop that! You can´t just go around touching documents!”   
“Why?”   
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY?! BECAUSE THEY`RE DOCUMENTS I STILL NEED!” His head made a few distressed beeping noises. “Now put it back or you´re directly fired again!”   
“Ooooooh…… Oh nooooooooo… pls don´t fire me…!” Carelessly throwing them back, the teen watched Simon provocatively.   
“God, I cannot wait for you to wear a springlock suit,” the manager uttered under his breath, before contacting Mike. “Mike, where the h-heck are you?”  
“Currently in the west hallway, I´ll be there in a fucking second! Chill!”   
Suddenly something occurred to Phoney. “Wait, why didn´t you take care of the teen? How did you know he was in the office, if you´re still this far away?!”   
A pause ensued. “I… kinda went through the vents and fucker shut it on me.”   
“You went through- god. Why?!”   
“Just to see if I could, okay?! Fuck you, I don´t need to explain myself to you!”   
“YES YOU DO, I`M YOUR BOSS!” The angsty teen behind Simon snickered and it took him all his willpower to not throw something around and throwing a tantrum.   
“Oh, wow, then you might want to start fucking acting like one?” Mike hissed, but slowly unhappiness seeped in. He didn´t want to insult his friend like that, so why did he have to provoke him like this!?   
“I´m acting like one right now by telling you, you will show our NEW employee around!”   
“What.”   
“Yes, the teen wanted a job. And it´ll be your job to show him around.”   
Finally Mike arrived, grabbed Simon and took him around the corner. “Are you fucking kidding me?! Just because I fucking nagged you a bit?”   
But Phone Guy had calmed already. “No. But who else should show him around? Dave and Old Sport would kill him on the spot for fun.”   
“Fuck- okay, fine, then let Jerry do it! He can deal with assholes, he is stupid enough for that shit…”   
“Are you serious? JEREMY. With that guy? Jeremy never went through puberty himself, do you really want to force him to face it in its purest form?! Not to mention that the guy would probably take him apart, not listen to ANYTHING of what he says. He´d wander off and get himself killed within two minutes.”   
“And that would be a bad thing why…?” Finally Mike shook his head. “Just a fucking joke. Yeah, okay, Jerry would be trash at this, but what about his fucking creeper friend? I´m pretty certain the puppet can make anyone act in line with just one glare of his undead eyes. Even I hate to look into those fucking tiny ass pinpricks.”   
“It might scare him into line, yes, but maybe it…” Horrified Simon trailed off.   
“It what?” Irritated Mike raised an eyebrow.   
“He´s edgy as- very edgy, maybe it turns him on. Jesus, god, if I had one dollar for every teen that came working here because they wanted to u-uh… mess… with one of the characters, I´d-“   
For a moment Mike pondered, slightly disgusted but equally as fascinate. “He´d probably stick his dick into a bowl of glass shards for the edge.”   
“I refuse to continue the conversation. Anyways, please go and take care of it. PLEASE.”   
“What if I say no?”   
“I can cut your pay?”   
“God in heaven, Simon I fucking hate you, you´re literally the biggest piece of shit that I ever had the displeasure to fucking meet, I will come to your house and fucking wipe my ass with your towels, you shit-fucking cunt-“   
“Mike. You know I wouldn´t- but you really have to learn to accept that I AM in fact your boss.”   
“I DO ACCEPT THAT! I JUST DON`T FUCKING CARE!”   
“Well… that´s not true now, is it…?”   
Having enough and feeling slightly exhausted, Mike shook himself. “Fine. I´ll… take care of him.”   
They returned into the office, but the teen was already gone, sending Phone Guy into justified panic “WHERE THE H-HECK IS HE?!”   
Mike didn´t even bother to be nervous and instead hurried out to find the suicidal human being. “EMO! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?! I PROMISE I WILL SHOVE YOUR HEAD DOWN THE BALLPIT UNTIL YOU FUCKING SEE ANOTHER UNIVERSE, MAYBE ONE IN WHICH YOU ARE WORTH A FUCKING DAMN!”   
“At least there is a universe where that is possible! There is not one where you are more than a minimum wage idiot.” Out of nowhere the teen called. He was sitting on top of one of the arcades placed basically at random everywhere. How he even got onto one of these fairly tall machines was a question in itself that didn´t need answering.   
“I´m a minimum wage idiot that can fucking punch you dead.”   
“And go to jail.”   
“That would be worth one less asshat in the world.”   
“Two less, since you´re then in jail.”   
“You feel fucking smart, don´t you? Have fun with that shit attitude, you´re gonna regret this all so badly.”   
“Not as much as I regret still being alive!”   
“You´re cancerous self-pity isn´t getting you any favors from me, you piece of shit.”   
“As if I´d ever want a favor from you. And even if, I could probably trick you into doing what I want anyway.”   
“I will make you regret the day you were born.”   
“Oh, get in line.”   
“You fuckhead don´t deserve my time.”   
“Then go away, I´m not happy about you being here either!” They stared at each other with contempt, before the teen finally sighed and looked away. “Just- get it over with, k? The sooner you showed me this shitplace, the sooner we both get to do our own thing.”   
“For a shitplace you sure were eager about working here!” Otherwise Simon wouldn´t have made him an employee… right?  
“Listen, I just want to find that ugly ballerina-abomination and pay it back, then I´ll let myself get fired or something.”   
“Aren´t you petty as fuck.”   
“Not worse than you, no.”   
“God, I wish I´d be fucking dead.”  
“You´ll be soon enough. Old timer.”   
Being stuck in this stalemate, Mike growled quietly and began moving. “Keep up, shitface.”   
They traveled through the show area and Mike actually began doing his job. “So. Show area. Here you can help serving food, watch the actual scheduled shows, play on the arcade like a lazy fuck, mess with the music and lights- if I ever hear you play “never gonna give you up” you won´t live to tell the tale.”   
“God you´re such a whiny pussy.”   
“Not as whiny as you will be after I removed your kneecaps. Anyway, hurry, the place is huge. Down here is Freddy´s Funhouse.” They arrived in the colorful room that was going off into hundreds of directions. Hundreds was a bit much, okay, but… there were a lot of twists and turns. Music played and in some distance you could hear children laugh and screech. It was somewhat haunted. “Here is the furthest you should ever go, because I have NO idea what lurks within and Freddy´s knows every little corner. If you ever find yourself stuck in there, clutch your Taser and pray to whatever deity you want, I doubt you´ll ever be seen again.”   
“Ooh, I´m so scared. Gotcha chief.”   
“Move it, bitch.” They turned to leave again, this time Mike took another path through the corridors. Finally they arrived at a large, dark room, with only the stage in the distance lit. On top of it was Ballora, dancing to classical music. There was murmur going on in the background, but for some reason nothing more. “This is Ballora´s auditorium. It´s… the calmer part of the place.”  
“And the place of robo-boobs.”   
“You said it, not me.”   
For a moment they looked in peace onto the almost hypnotic movements of the woman on the stage, but then a faint, smug laughter sounded from the ground. When the Guard looked down, he saw the movement of something small running away.   
“I´m off then.” The teen suddenly bolted.   
“WHERE THE FUCK-“   
“Going to find the little Minireena shit! That´s the only reason I´m here in the first place.”   
Baffled Mike watched him run. “WELL, IF YOU WANTED TO FUCKING DIE, WHY DIDN`T YOU SAY SO IN THE FIRST PLACE? THEN I WOULDN`T HAVE EVEN TRIED IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE! FUCK YOU!”   
“I`LL FIGURE OUT THE REST MYSELF, THANKS!” The teenager screamed back while rushing towards the stage.   
Where the fuck did that little shit go?   
Of course to her dad!   
Like every little shit that picked a fight with someone bigger than her.   
Quickly the girl climbed up Old Sport´s leg and onto his shoulder, giggling when he gave her a short glance.   
“What did you do?” Old Sport asked, a slightly worried.   
Offended Alice crossed her legs and kept quiet. As if she was up to trouble ALL the time!   
Well… the teenager running up to them was proving Old Sport somewhat right. “Hey. That Ballerina… is that yours? Or… whatever?”   
“That´s Alice! Uh… what do you need her for?”   
“She´s a fucking cunt.” Completely dead looking Nemo stared at the colorful guard.   
“Wow. That´s how you talk to my daughter, H U H ?” Something about the kid made him want to ruffle. His face looked familiar… “Did she mess you up, H M M M ? Can´t deal with someone smaller and smarter than you, E H ?”   
Alice applauded and giggled, smug about being safe and sound on her protective guardian. The angsty teen gave her a deadly glance. “Not really that, but she´s an annoying-“   
“SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORTSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!” Dave run up to them, but his ecstatic expression changed when he spotted his new companion. “Who´s that clown?”   
“Apparently his daughter.” Nemo answered without hesitation.   
All three looked at him silently.   
“I´ve destroyed many Freddy´s and yeah, for a lot of ´em I used gasoline. But I haven´t seen a burn like that in a while.” Dave nodded in appreciation. “Now ya better take your ass away from here, before I break all of your non-vital bones.”   
“Oooooh, I´m so scared! What you´re gonna do? Make me suffer even more than I´m already am? Good luck.”   
Old Sport looked back and forth between these two, feeling entertained, while Alice was standing up all tall and might and insulted. Her low giggle would sound threatening if it wouldn´t come out of the most unthreatening animatronic to ever been made. Even Chica´s Cupcake is more terrifying.   
The teen looked up at her, pissed off. “Ow, so you can´t even take what you dish out? Thinking it´s funny to dunk people in color and then when they come back to get you, you´re just hiding!”   
Alice broke out in a lot of high-pitched giggles that sounded like nagging, while she shook her tiny animatronic fist at him.   
“Fight me then!” Bold he reached to grab the Minireena, but jerked back as if bitten. “OW! You bitch-“   
“You´re the one trying to kidnap her!” Old Sport shook his head. “How about you try someone your size?”   
“I´ll take on somebody twice my damn size!” Angst McTeen exclaimed and it made Dave smile.   
“You´re one of the REALLY tough guys, eh? How ´bout ya prove it?” With a weirdly glowing smile he leaned closer, but the teen didn´t move one inch.   
“Sure thing. I´m sure whatever YOU come up with is so incredibly terrifying that I won´t even survive.”   
This got a laugh out of the aubergine colored man. “Buddy boy, you don´t even know half of it! But ya said yes and know Imma take advantage of it. Alice!”   
The small thing jumped up, ready to Rambo.   
“If we wanna test this sucker, we gotta challenge him. Here!” He put his hand into his jacket and with mild terror Old Sport awaited what would come out of it. It was a knife, a spoon, a small vial… perfume? Else there was a small notebook, which seemingly said “You exist you lose, current champion: Henry”, a handful of dice, a balloon-shaped doggo and a few stickers.   
For a while they looked at this assortment of things, while the round doggo floated off, quietly borfing.   
“I expected more weapons to be honest.” Orange Guy wasn´t sure if he felt disappointed or relieved.   
“Ow, believe me I can kill a grown adult and a young shark with each of these! But for now… uh… here.” Dave handed the stickers to Alice. “Go and hide ´em around! He´ll go and find ´em and if he does he has proven himself to be the toughest of guys! Also you gotta say sorry then, Alice!”   
The neck of the girl snapped around almost one-eighty degrees, to give him the most hurt look that her plastic face was able to produce.   
“Don´t give me that look princess, you get to decide where it´s placed. Make it hard, will ya?”   
Pouty she gathered the stickers and ran off, directly into the vents.   
“You´d be better off using the vents as well if you ask me.” Softly smiling Old Sport tried to guess how the kid would die. Probably due to Freddy, he was a bit unstable. Or maybe Alice would gather the group and they´d tear him apart while in the vents already.   
Nah, she wasn´t THAT unfair… right?   
“Why are you even calling her your daughter? Except because you´re a creepy old dude?” Emo sounded bored.   
“That´s pretty much all the reason.”   
“At least you´re honest about it.” The guy became agitated and began pacing around, under the watchful eye of Dave. At some point he noticed the small badge on his chest. It been partly hidden by the weird scarf the kid was wearing.   
“Ya a new employee? Phoney´s getting desperate it seems!”   
“To be fair, when isn´t he?” Old Sport chimed in. “I appreciate our new companion!”   
“God, you two are annoying.”   
They looked at each other, then Dave shrugged. Nothing out of the ordinary. “We didn´t even do anything! We could be much more annoying!”   
“We could show you magic tricks!”   
“We could tie your shoe laces together!”   
“We could put a piece of paper with “kick me” on your back!”   
“Aw, have a bit of mercy with the poor kiddo! He probably has enough of that in school!”   
They both grinned at Nemo who didn´t really react. “Oh so creative, I´ll fall over and die.”   
“Please do!” Cheerful Dave laughed. “Would spare us from scratching your remains out of the air vents-“   
A slightly annoyed laugh came from down between them and Alice looked up at them, her arms crossed. Get going, was what her unmoving expression said.   
Angsty fuck growled and left, searching for the five stickers for no other reason than that he had been challenged to do so. As soon as he was gone, Alice vanished too. Poor little teen.   
Curious Dave looked after them, but he kept back, his attention obviously far better off at his friend. He wasn´t saying anything, he was simply smiling.   
For a moment Old Sport looked back, hesitant and unsure. Sometimes Dave had these… habits. Either he waited until his friend was satisfied or he tried to snap him out of it.   
Unsure he of what he of that he wanted, he stared back.   
Slowly he figured they should probably stop staring at each other and get SOMETHING done.   
“Dave…?” His words came out embarrassingly soft and Old Sport recoiled at himself. God, what was wrong with him?!   
“Hm?” The Purple Guy hasn´t really awoken from his trance, his unfocused bright eyes seemingly wandering at random over Sportsy´s features.   
“Uh… are you doing okay? You seemed to want to show me something when you just run up.”   
“Yeah…” For another moment he kept on greedily drinking in the expression of his partner, before grabbing his arm and dragging him along. “We need the suits first!”   
“Oh my lord, what are you planning?”   
“Don´t be a chicken! It´ll be funny, I promise!”   
They reached and entered the saferoom. “The last time you told me we´d do something funny in the saferoom we springlocked Jimbo…”   
“Yeah and it was HILARIOUS!” After that he added “Right?”   
… Shouldn´t Dave be able to decide that for himself? “It was pretty funny, I´ll admit… but I really hope you have some other idea for this.”   
“Sure thing, Sportsy! I ain´t a guy to do the same thing over and over again!”   
“Except you actually are, seeing as you basically do nothing but go around and lure kids away to close Freddy´s…”   
“I USED to! Now I´ve turned over a new leaf! A new era!” Brightly Dave glowed at him. “Now my top priority is to have fun!”   
With a small smile Old Sport relaxed. “You don´t have to bother so much.”   
“But I wanna! And it ain´t that much of a big deal anyway! Here, let me show it to ya!” Dave picked up Spring Freddy and began suiting his friend up. “Step one! Put on suits!”   
Somewhat anticipating Dave´s next step he let himself be dressed up and thanked Dave with a nod, while watching him getting suited himself.   
“Step numbero two-o! We gotta get out and about!” Dave confidently rushed forwards, into the next best crowd.   
“Alright? How many people are we going to harm?”   
“Depends on your definition of “”HARM””. I´d say nobody and nothin´ are getting hurt!”   
“Wow, that´s a first.” Teasingly Old Sport nudged him, as they were slowly swarmed by curious kiddens that were happy to see their not really favorite, but definitely most interesting animatronics again.   
“Step three! CURSE EVERYBODY!” With that he turned around. “Hey kiddeliddles!”   
“Hi Spring Bonnie.” They said in unison.   
“Did you know?” He grinned, it was visible, even through the suit. “When you walk up to a Guard, you have a chance to get a free Tokens?”   
“No Spring Bonnie.”   
“Well now ya know! And do you know what you gotta say when you walk up to them?”   
“Tell us Spring Bonnie.”   
“You gotta swarm the one guard with no face and curly brown hair and ask him what he uses to yiff the puppet.”   
“What´s a yiff?” One of them asked, slightly confused.   
“Oh, he can explain that too. Anything to add, Sportsy?”   
“Uh… you can kick Tokens out of the phone. Just try it.”   
Cheering the kids ran off, while the Eggplant gave Sportsy a bemused glance. “And then somebody says I`M the violent one!”   
“It´s true! The Phone actually loses tokens when kicked! I´ve tried it a few times!” Faint screaming in the distance indicated that some of the kids had found the Phone head. The following cursing and cussing showed that thankfully Mike was there to deal with the problem.   
“But Sportsy, I´d rather go and see how the poopet deals with Jerry being molested!”   
“What do you expect?”   
“Dead children at best, but probably only a pissed off puppet that can´t do anything.”   
They walked off to find the young guard and were quickly rewarded with a high-pitched, demonic voice.   
“WHO TAUGHT YOU CHILDREN THESE WORDS?!”   
“Oh buddy boy.” Old Sport was grabbed and taken by Dave to the side. “Now the moment of truth…”   
The children made their typical children sounds, aka the activation of a small tank and talked about the bunny. The Puppet didn´t approve.   
“I will be back momentarily.” The creature began to unwrap itself, but as soon as he made a step away, the kids began pestering Jeremy again.   
“What is a yiff?”   
“What do you use to yiff?”   
“What are you?”   
“Why don´t you have a face?”   
“Can we get our Tokens now?”   
“Hello, I am a fellow human and I am not gathering your data currently.”   
“HOW MUCH WOOD DOES A WOOD CHUCK CUCK?!”   
“Quiff.”   
“I´m kinda hungry…”   
“Can we get our tokens now?”   
“No, really, what is a yiff?”   
“I think it has to do with sniffing?”   
The puppet paused and looked back at his helpless companion that was stuck in between the kids. For the love of-   
“Children? You want to play games at the arcades?”   
An unsure murmur came from everybody, but Jerry was thankful that the focus had shifted away from him.   
“Then how about I show you a small trick how you can avoid the paywall?”  
Confused the kids cheered and followed the Puppet away. Finally!   
“Step four!” Dave picked up Jeremy. “PROFIT!”   
A bit irritated Jeremy laughed. “Uh… did you make all this happen to get me alone?”   
Whirling him in a circle, Dave snickered. “Partially? But how else do we ever get to talk to ya?”   
Understanding Jeremy nodded and enjoyed being basically treated like a plushy, until he finally couldn´t take it anymore. “What´s a yiff?”   
“A mixture of yelling and sniffing.” Old Sport answered instantly and without any regrets. He was just happy to finally talking to their boy. “Anyway…”   
“… Jer, what´cha think, can you sneak off to visit sometimes?” Dave took over. “You know, your animatronic-“   
“HEY! YOU TWO. I GOT YOUR SHITTY WORTHLESS STICKERS.” Ruffed up the teen walked up to them, his hand as a fist, before he reached out to them and let them fall down in front of them.   
“Yo, looks like all five. Good job.” Annoyed and irritated Dave picked them up. How did the guy survive and why did he had to appear NOW?!  
Alice had reappeared as well and silently was climbing back on the Orange Guy who was a bit irritated. “That was… quick?”   
Not too quick, but still… maybe the Minireena actually liked that guy and having him around. She´d probably keep him around to annoy him even further with her next trick.   
“Yeah. Sure.” Frustrated Nemo let the air out of his lungs.   
“Did Alice say sorry?”   
“I´m sure she is.” The amount of grumpiness conveyed in his words made Old Sport actually ask himself what had happen. Alice still was quiet.   
“Did you… do something to her?” If so, he wouldn´t see the next day alive.   
“Didn´t touch a hair on her- or one fucking piece of plastic on her.” The teenager stepped away a bit, looking up and down the self-proclaimed father. “You look horrible in that suit.”   
“Thank you, you look horrible in that face.” For a moment they all stood a bit helpless around, before Jeremy finally dared to hold out his hand and speak.   
“U-uh, hello! You… are you a new dayguard? I´m Jeremy, nice to meet you!”   
“I despise you.” The teenager didn´t even look at the offered hand.   
“Why?!” That wasn´t the usual reaction Jeremy got…   
“Because you´re a retard. Bye.” And off he went, leaving three baffled guards behind. Only Alice was quietly laughing.   
The rest of the day the Guards spend confused and irritated, but finally feeling somewhat connected over their shared dislike for the new kid. It wasn´t directly hate, but…  
Freddy´s had always attracted freaks.   
At the end of the day they all said goodbye and left. So did Nemo.   
Simon shortly held him back. “Today you did… acceptable,” he admitted. “However you shouldn´t treat your co-workers the way you do. It can get… really unpleasant.”   
“Thanks, MOMMY.” Before Phoney could call him back, the young Guard had already left the building.   
Outside of it a man sat on a bank, an entirely black dog to his feet. He had been watching the place for the whole day now, his notebook in his hand, writing down things that stood out to him about the customers.   
Then he saw a teenager come out, wearing the typical guard head and froze.   
The guy… he had seen before, hadn´t he?   
Sure… he came by almost regularly. He could recognize that facial structure, even under the excessive amount of paint.   
A few local teenagers came by every once in a while to be edgy and ruin the fun for other kids… or to fuck with the robots and do stupid bets. Weirdly enough this kid seemed to be part of every single one of these groups…   
A lurker.   
Like him.   
Teenagers like him were in every city.   
It almost felt like he had seen him before, somewhere else…   
But once people identified as something, they all began to look quite similar. Maybe he was just getting old.   
Ethan sighed and looked down at the dog, who had sat up and watched the entrance with some form of interest. Rare enough sight.   
Or maybe the dog just wanted them to leave.   
Ethan couldn´t blame him. This sitting and staring was driving him insane. How would the poor dog feel after having to sit around in one spot for so many hours?   
“Let´s get going, boy,” Ethan quietly said while standing up himself. The dog only looked at him in silence with his empty, dark eyes. It could be holding universes in there, who knows… Ethan had always appreciated the intelligence of these creatures. You only needed to watch a few police dogs at work and would come to the conclusion that dogs were god´s gift to make people´s life easier. Or bearable in the first place.   
A bit awkward Ethan looked away and began walking home. He needed to figure out what a new employee meant.   
Except a new person in danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes people deserve death. But again, I promise. Two of three OCs are now introduced and two of them has a major role in the story.   
> I´m not even sure if I´ll introduce the third one.   
> If you dislike the fact that OCs are hanging out, because they hog spotlight (I´d totally understand), then tell me and I´ll promise to pay as little attention to them as I can.


	33. You missed the nightshift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title is fairly self-explanitory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!  
> THIS IS THE UNBETA´D VERSION!  
> THERE ARE MOST LIKELY AT LEAST THREE MAJOR SPELLING ERRORS IN THIS!  
> MAYBE EVEN A WORD OR SENTENCE FUCK UP!  
> IT WILL BE UPDATED AT A LATER POINT IN TIME WITH CORRECTIONS!  
> SO, UH... IF YOU CARE ABOUT QUALITY, YOU BETTER WAIT A BIT LONGER.  
> But I really didn´t want to put it off for much longer....  
> IN ANY CASE, E N J O Y!

Slowly the sun set behind the horizon and Mike paced around in the now empty restaurant, slightly frustrated. These days were too fucking hot to be up, so he actually soullessly skipped the dayshift to hang around in bed in a dazed, sweaty, half-dazed state.  
It didn´t really help to be honest, it only resulted in him feeling even shittier after having worried all day about the stupid fucking Phone.  
Because the fucking Phone always got himself into trouble. So as soon as it was remotely cooler he left his house, dragging himself through the burning streets. The air was almost too hot to breathe.  
Thankfully, the restaurant had better air-conditioning than any other place close around, so when he arrived he instantly sucked in the air and fell onto the nearest chair.  
He had the short chance to talk with Simon to check in if the day went fine- and he blew it, because fuck him, right? It just… didn´t feel right. They merely nodded at each other as Phoney left, locking the place like he usually would.  
Lost in thought Mike´s hand wandered to his own key and he took another deep breath. It wasn´t twelve yet, he didn´t feel like sitting in the office all night. No, even if he understood that they were all watching him while he was out in the open- well, not all, seeing as Ballora didn´t really have eyes- it was still better than feeling the dreadful claustrophobic feeling inside of his office.  
After all, he felt eyes constantly following him everywhere, so it wasn´t that big of a difference.  
All of them were watching, but only one of them was bolt enough to stand on the stage, taunting him.  
Baby titled her head with a cocky smile, adjusting her grip on her microphone that she only very rarely put down.  
“Make a fucking picture, it´ll last longer.” He had no patience for any of her shenanigans today.  
“I´m sure it will…” Her voice echoed through the large room, despite sounding fairly quiet. “… longer than tonight for sure. Thankfully I have access to the security cameras, so I won´t need to take a picture… I can simply rewind the tape.”  
“O H W O W, I´m so fucking scared. I´m literally dying. No jokes. All my organs are seizing to function as I slowly rot out from the inside. The fear rushing through my veins, it is stopping my brain from registering any other important tasks.” Mike sounded unimpressed. “Please spare me.”  
Scoffing Baby made a movement as if to flip her hair. “You will see. We have something special in store for you tonight Mike… I have been watching you.” It was said the same way you´d let somebody in on a big secret, but the Guard couldn´t see it.  
“And? Pretty fucking much everybody has been watching me it seems like.”  
“I think I found out a pretty interesting fact about you… Mikey, why don´t you bleed?”  
“Don´t call me that!” Snapping at her he adjusted his hat, before pacing around again. “And what the fuck do you mean I don´t bleed? I bleed every fucking day.”  
“We both now that is a gross overstatement. You barely shed a few drops, no matter what hits you. Things fall onto you, hit your head, harm you in all ways… and you simply shake it off.”  
“I´m just so fucking magical. Didn´t anybody ever tell you that I´m actually a unicorn in human fucking skin? Because big reveal that´s what I am. In like… twenty days or so the world will be almost destroyed, at which point I will make my magical transformation and safe it with the power of love and friendship.”  
“You´d be an incredibly ugly unicorn, I can imagine it… you´d be less of a pony and more of an… ass!” She snickered a bit.  
“God, fucking decide on your image already. Are you that cool-headed planner or are you a fucking stupid schoolgirl that has nothing better to do than make dumb remarks at adults and feel really fucking clever about it?”  
“I`m not-“ She seemingly felt insulted, but was too smart to hammer the point home, because it would only result in Mike continuing to piss her off. “Either way. I will test my little theory out tonight on you… don´t worry.”  
“Oh, I don´t fucking worry. I craved death since I fucking arrived in this restaurant, so this is really nice gesture, much appreciated. So, what if you´re wrong with whatever nutjob of an idea you came up with?”  
“Then I´ll fix it.” Cockily she smiled and Mike wanted to snap her neck, even if that would probably not do anything.  
“One day I´ll fucking melt your face off with a blowtorch.” His calm downtime was ruined and with a groan he stepped into the office, before he broke something expensive. The place already had his soul, it shouldn´t be able to legally enslave him for anything.  
Bored and tense he tapped onto all the monitors in the office, asking himself why they even were in here. For cameras he still used the tablet, the computer was… fine, but the three others were just a waste of space.  
But if Dave actually had a say in how this office was furniture, it made sense.  
`Just put in a whole lotta screens, it´s gonna be nifty!´  
God, fuck Dave. Why did he even have the money? How even?  
Wasn´t he a fucking cokehead that had nothing but fun on his mind?  
Reality was just fucking fucked.  
Maybe it was just-  
Oh, stop already to break your head on it. It doesn´t fucking matter.  
Sighing he pulled up the monitor and flicked through the cameras. Everybody was hiding… for now. At least it was a bit less boring than staring at nothing and blackness… and it wouldn´t drain the power yet. At point midnight the main power shut off and stayed off for exactly six hours. What a fucking joke.  
Yep, he was convinced that it was by Dave´s design that the power was limited. He wanted people to get murdered. Probably for the kicks.  
Why didn´t he murder those two?  
Oh- right- BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO STAY FUCKING DOWN.  
With a suffering sigh he pulled down the monitor, just to almost fall back, as Nemo was standing there, looking annoyed. “Mom said it´s my turn to take the nightshift.”  
“What-? How did you even get in here, I didn´t even hear- and what to do you mean by mom-?!”  
“The Phone. Now move.”  
“Are you even OLD enough to do the nightshift?”  
“Certainly.”  
“How… old are you even?”  
“Old enough to plow your mom.”  
“She´s dead.”  
“Oh, fuck, so is mine. I think.” Nemo frowned confused. “Anyways, he told me it´s important that I do it, so… whatever. Wanna get him in trouble? Like, dude, go for it. I don´t care. But now I´ve already made my way over here in the middle of the night… eh, whatever, if I get paid for the night without doing anything then cool.”  
For a moment they stared at each other, then Mike stood up and almost threw the tablet into his face. “You know what, kiddo, fuck you. Have fun dying.”  
Seeing as he wasn´t taking it, Mike threw it on the table and stormed out, feeling beyond annoyed. Dying was HIS job for fuck´s sake!  
AND NOW THEY WOULDN`T EVEN LET HIM DO THAT!  
Welp, he should be thankful… the kid would probably dead by tomorrow. Jesus did he hate the guy.  
At least he remembered to lock the door behind him afterwards again, as he stumbled out into the night. Fuck Simon for doing this, even if it was supposed to be a nice gesture, couldn´t he do that with his own shift?!  
For a moment Mike paused and looked back.  
Maybe he should…  
No, no… the kid would be fine. The animatronics would notice it´s a newbie and do theirs stupid introduction thing and it would be FINE. Even Jeremy managed to survive and Jeremy is a fucking idiot.  
With that he shook of the last bit of hesitation off and returned home.  
After a while the clock struck midnight and the nightshift began.  
Baby was the first on the move, she wanted to go and drain his power. Might was a bit unfair, but hey, she REALLY was curious…  
But when she arrived the office door was open.  
Oh. So he actually wanted to see too…?  
Excited she stepped in, but stopped instantly.  
The office was completely empty.  
What?  
Why?  
How?  
Did he actually just… left?  
He couldn´t DO that!  
That was not a THING!  
Hanging around somewhat baffled, the other animatronics quickly joined, equally as confused.  
Ballora tried to mask it by softly fixing her ballet clothes. “I have heard him leave, but I did not expect…”  
“S-So, does that- does that- does that mean we h-have a free night!?” Funtime Freddy was excited and Bonbon did nothing to calm him down. After all, he was right.  
Foxy just wagged its tail excitedly, but Baby was pretty sure it was agreement.  
“So… what are we going to do now?” Ballora raised an eyebrow at Baby.  
“Well…” All the gang was staring at her, waiting for her opinion. It flattered her to be the leader, but sometimes she couldn´t believe that they expected HER to have the answer to everything.  
Now… they could of course just spend the night inside, roam the place, play the games…  
… but this was probably a one in a lifetime thing and honestly, she was pissed off at Mike for leaving like a pussy. He should get in TROUBLE.  
“… Everyone… how does a nice trip into the city sound?” She smiled.  
Freddy, Bonbon and Foxy were screeching happily, but Ballora was frowning a bit worried it seemed. “It sounds promising, I agree… but were there not reasons we were pressed to not leave for the outside in the open…?”  
“C-can´t remember any- any- any!” Freddy laughed loudly. “I can´t w-w-wait to f-find more B-BIRTHDAY boys and girls that I can- can entertain!”  
Jumping around the Fox seemed to already dream of all the space and all the things it would be able to hunt.  
“You worry too much, Ballora…” Baby patted her arms, almost a bit condescendingly. “… who is going to harm us anyways?”  
Before she could answer, the animatronics were running off, breaking the locks of the door with incredible ease and disappeared into the night.  
The Ballerina followed slower, a grave mistake seeing as she already lost the connection to the others and wasn´t even quite sure as to where they left to. Slowly shaking her head she hoped that Baby would be able to keep them all together… or pretending to hope, because she actually knew perfectly well that she couldn´t and that this was probably one of the worst mistake in all of their lives.  
Despite that knowledge she stepped into the night, because… if she wouldn´t take care of them, who would?  
Yes, who would?  
Who would bother keeping a handful of deadly machines in check?  
A man stepped out of a bar into the cold night air. Or at least it struck him as cool, compared to the merciless heat of the daytime.  
His hands were a bit twitchy, seemingly he resisted the urge to reach for something, the way his hand fell to his sides seemed to be an admission of defeat.  
Ethan Cross let his eyes wander the street in front of him, restless in every sense of the word. Sleep wouldn´t come and the quiet pawsteps of his dog had driven him up the wall. Whenever he put the lights on, the dag was lying around, but as soon as it was dark he could HEAR the steps-  
Maybe now that he had a bit of alcohol in his system, sleep would finally have mercy on him and come by…  
It wasn´t really that he was drunk, it was more that slight dizziness… or was that his exhaustion… didn´t matter as long as it kept him from spending another night sitting up in his room, trying to figure out how to gain access to the blueprints…  
His dog gave him an odd look and barked, or at least Ethan was convinced that he was barking and then suddenly ran off.  
“W-wait, where are you going-!?” Didn´t he put him on a leash-?  
Great, now he could run after the damn thing, before he got into trouble…  
Hasting after the creature he somehow managed to keep up with the dog, despite it being pretty darn fast…  
Seemingly at random he made turns, until at some point he jumped into a darker sidewalk and suddenly stopping to stare at something at the end of the way. When Ethan finally arrived, only slightly out of breath, thankfully, because what he saw took his breath pretty much away in an instant.  
It was barely visible overall, but the glowing eyes and the shimmering reflections of the streetlights in the back made it obvious that there was an animatronic standing there.  
Funtime Foxy to be exact.  
The creature looked around a bit, locking eyes with him and smiling.  
Well- at least he assumed it was smiling, as now another row of small light were reflected at exactly the right height. Slowly Ethan stepped forward, in front of his dog, who thankfully had returned to him and didn’t seem to be that keen anymore to jump at whatever he had been running towards so frantically.  
His instinct was staying quiet and not moving too much, while his hand wandered to his weapon. Where was the processor in the animatronic?  
The head?  
The chest?  
Foxy made an unnatural noise- something that sounded almost like a rapidly approaching car- how was it able to make this noise- and crouched down, its eyes flashing up brightly.  
As it began to move, Ethan quickly pulled up the gun and aimed-  
Then two things happened at once.  
In the back a complex piece of music began playing… music box maybe- probably a classical piece-  
At the same time Foxy stopped in its tracks and laid its ears back, before running off, right as the melody became louder.  
Spinning around, the man kept his weapon drawn, more out of habit than out of any type of plan, though he felt safe to assume that whatever was coming towards him was worse than the fox.  
There were no footsteps, or at least it did not sound like it, though maybe it was the music masquerading it.  
A woman stepped around the corner-  
-not a woman, an animatronic-  
\- and made a small curtsey towards him.  
“I think I recognize you…” Her voice sounded firm and confident, despite her words being questioning.  
“… We haven´t met too often…” Ethan had avoided her place, because honestly, she and her little performers gave him chills. No matter how human she appeared, something about her movements was incredibly unnatural, too smooth, too quick…  
“It is rude to keep a gun drawn on a weaponless woman…” She made a vague sign at his gun and while he hesitated he slowly let it down a bit to not directly aim at her chest. “Would you have shot Foxy?”  
“Well… yes…” Unsure of whether admitting to it was a good idea or not, he slowly stepped back, bringing more distance between them. “After the disaster case “Breadbear”, all cities with a Freddy´s were instructed to open fire on each and any animatronic leaving the pizzeria unauthorized.”  
All of her movement shortly stopped, then she raised a finger to her face, apparently a thinking motion. “That… presents quite a troubling situation. We must find the others and bring them back before something happens to them…”  
Confused Ethan looked at her, not really trusting to take orders and advice from such a machine. Who knew, maybe she was programmed to trick him…?  
“Then you should return to the restaurant, while I gather them.” It was the safest option he could see, since he couldn´t let animatronics roam the streets.  
“My, won´t you need help?” Now it was her turn to sound slightly surprised and Ethan moved around a bit uncomfortably.  
“I can always inform the police station, they will-“  
“Won´t they shoot my friends, Mister…?”  
“Cross.” For a moment he was- it was a hard feeling to describe. This felt like a night terror, the beginning of one at least; surreal, unnatural and seemingly ready to break out into something actually threatening at any moment.  
“Mr. Cross, I cannot allow you to shoot at my friends.” Calmly she stepped closer, pausing when the weapon was raised again. “I will find them on my own… but may I request for your phone?”  
“For what?” His words came out harsher than he expected of himself, nervousness made him this way.  
“I would like to talk to the manager of our restaurant, so he may help me out. After all, it is either being quick or the night ending… messy.” She reached out, while keeping a comfortable distance so Ethan wouldn´t feel furtherly threatened. “It would only cause trouble for both our restaurant and the police if their world would collide… so we should use our small chance to prevent it…”  
A bit confused the man hesitantly put his gun down and picked out his phone, handing it over slowly. “Are you… implying I should not get them involved…?”  
“Preferably, at least not until six AM? None of us would be happy if somebody got hurt…” Her voice WASN`T threatening. Not in the slightest. Why was it making his hair stand up on his neck?  
“Are you kidding? Impossible. The most I can make myself accountable for… would be an hour before informing the police.”  
“… Oh- I finally remember… Ethan Cross, isn´t it? Hm.” She was putting in a number. “… it is late… you did drink… I wonder… would they even believe you? As long as nobody else reports it that is…”  
Baffled at that thinly veiled jab he watched her taking up the phone and listening for a few seconds.  
At fair amount of distance away, in a pretty lone house, Simon jerked up as his head began ringing.  
Dazzled he tried to accept the call, wondering who the hell would decide to call him so soon past midnight- was Mike in trouble?!  
“H-hello? Hello?” Anxious he held his breath, waiting for the someone who called him to raise his voice-  
“Hello, Mr. Phone Guy, Ballora speaking. I am currently standing in…” Ballora gave Ethan a questioning look, before shrugging. “… a few blocks away from the “Wild Wolf”-“  
This rang a bell and after getting not enough customer service that way, it went over to the BIG BUTTON and activated a red flashing alarm. “YOU ARE WHERE!? THAT- ISN`T THAT A BAR? BALLORA, WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW!?”  
“Yes, indeed, the bar.” She laughed a bit at her manager´s panic. “Oh, do not fret, I´m her in good company with Mr. Cross… the current problem is that the others seemingly have forgotten about the policy against animatronics as well and have left for some sort of adventure…”  
“THEY WHAT?!” Phone Guy had jumped up and walked began to put on shoes- he always slept in clothes anyways, so he could leave like that. “WHY DIDN´T- WHAT DID YOU DO TO MIKE!?”  
“Sir, stop screaming at me.” She quietly tsked. “I didn´t do anything and neither to my friends. He simply decided to leave at some point.”  
“W-w-what?!” He was a bit quieter now, but it was hard. “Why would he- he would never- he wouldn´t just LEAVE!”  
“I apologize, but it was what he did…” A bit impatient Ballora moved around. “Anyways, I will go and gather them now, or at least try to… feel free to help.”  
After that last biting comment she ended the call and handed Ethan the phone back and sighed. “Well then, Mr. Cross, I should hurry. Have a nice evening and I greatly hope I won´t have the displeasure to run into you again, trying to shoot my friends.”  
“I hope I won´t run into you murdering a civilian…”  
She stopped on her way back and gave him a short glace with her closed eyes, her faceplates shifting, a purple glow was under it. “Why would you have such a bad impression of me, Mr. Cross?”  
With that she disappeared around the corner, bringing her haunting music with her.  
For a moment Ethan stared after her and then made a decision. He looked down at his dog, who was looking back up at him, skeptic.  
“Okay boy… you found the fox once, find it again. We need to find it before it hurts somebody…” Not truly surprised as the dog jumped up and run off he followed him, hoping that the dog knew what he had referred to… and if yes, how he even did that.  
Hasting down the street he quickly could actually notice the noises the animatronic made. The car honks were not very noticeable in the constant car noises of the city, but if you were listening intensely, you could hear the static in the sound.  
The detective wasn´t quite sure what to do when he found the creature- probably try to lure it into a secluded area and call for back-up…  
At some point he managed and found Foxy, the noises told him it was right around the corner and his dog had stopped, tensely wagging. There were weird noises made, was he- rummaging around…?  
Slowly he peeked around the corner, his weapon drawn.  
And indeed, the Fox was throwing over trashcans, jumping on top of the empty cans, seemingly completely engrossed in his actions. Thankfully, the dim light revealed that he was fairly clean still, so he probably didn´t attack anyone… did he?  
Unsure he hid again behind the wall, getting out his phone, trying to remember his location. It had been hard, since every sideway and alley looked the same, but he always had kept his eyes out for the signs and a pretty decent grip on where the fuck he was.  
Now, better request for people with Tasers and possibly some harsh restraining measures, but-  
“THERE YOU ARE YOU LITTLE BITCH, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL MURDER YOUR WHOLE FAMILY-“ A scream sounded and after that a mechanical “THUD”, followed by an electronic whine.  
As fast as he could Ethan jumped forth, not exactly sure what was happening, but completely determined to save whatever drunken fool had thrown himself at the dangerous machine.  
But when he finally saw the scene, to his surprise he had come face to face with Mike Schmidt, who was currently standing over the covering Foxy, a Taser in his hands that emitted sparks every other second. When he looked up, Ethan could have sworn to see his eyes glow.  
“YOU WANNA BE NEXT, HUH?!” He raised the Taser towards him, but then slowly lowered it again, as he seemingly recognized him. “… ah. The fucking detective guy. Funny running into you. Fucking hilarious.”  
Without paying any further mind to the man, he tied up the animatronic and began dragging it away, struggling until another person approached, waving his arms around in despair. Phone Guy had arrived and was NOT happy.  
“E-employee for gosh darn´s sake- do you have to scream like that?! It´s nighttime! We´re gonna get in trouble!”  
“Then HELP me you useless metal-head!” Mike groaned as he tried to drag the unhappy fox.  
“W-why should I damn help you? This is ALL your darn fault!”  
“I swear to you, the fucking teen came in and told me he was supposed to take over my shift!”  
“And I tell you, I never TOLD him to do that!”  
They began to pull together and Ethan hesitantly joined them. “I´ll presume they escaped as Mr. Schmidt left his position…?”  
“Oh fucking smartass, YES. BUT A CO-WORKER OF MINE HAD SAID HE WOULD TAKE OVER!”  
“Which one…?” Interested the detective went through the list of potential employees that could have possibly wanted to deliberately sabotage this restaurant.  
“It was the angsty fuck-“  
“A new employee, you wouldn´t know him…” They finally managed to move the fox inside of the car. “P-Please, you… don´t call the police- w-we have these things under control, it´s just a minor- uh… setback…”  
“If he´s so fucking panicked then he might as well fucking help us the fuck out. Get in you fucking nerd, next up is-“  
“Did you just call me nerd?” Ethan wasn´t angry in the slightest, it only… had been a while since he had last been called “nerd”. Somehow he presumed that word not to be used in the adult world.  
“What you´re fucking gonna do about it, Nerd?!” Mike wasn´t having a good time, so much was obvious.  
“Well…” Good question. “…I...” With that he was dragged pushed into the car, right next to Foxy, who whined at him with empathy. Perplexed he stared at Mike who was throwing the entrance shut. “Excuse me, but would you- let me back out?!”  
Nervously he eyed the machine next to him and even though its snout was bound, he couldn´t help himself but think that being rammed by a shitton of metal would still be painful.  
“What?! Fucking SCARED? Pussy. The fox is tied up, you know?”  
“If it seems so safe to you, how about you sit in the back?” Not in the mood to fuck around, Ethan snarked back.  
“I`d do it, because I´m no nerd-ass pussy!” Mike hissed and on that cue the man opened the door and went to change places and as promised, the Nightguard didn´t even hesitate to stand up and sit in the back, hissing when the fox even only GLANCED at him. “See, bitch? This is how it works.”  
“Very impressive Mr. Schmidt.” Ethan had no idea how to interact with the man, who was radiating anger out of every pore. “Now, how come that the animatronics could escape in the first place? How would they-“  
“THE PROBABLY USED THE FUCKING DOOR, NUMBNUT!”  
“Didn´t you lock it?”  
“YES I DID, BUT GEE, MAYBE BEING LIKE- 90% METAL KINDA MAKES THAT REDUNDANT, DON`T YOU THINK? IF THEY WANNA GET FUCKING OUT, THEY GET FUCKING OUT.” Raging in the backseat, even the robot moved away in fret.  
“Employee, please be quiet, it´s too darn late for your screaming.”  
“Don´t “employee” me, phone-fuck. I do what I fucking want.” Obviously insulted Mike leaned back, but at least he had calmed down a bit. “If I say I´m not a bitch, I´m not a fucking bitch.”  
Phone Guy made small noise of distress “Stop being rude to Mr. Cross…”  
They began driving and Ethan realized that he accidently had let himself be talked into pursuing a handful of machines…  
… then again, it was better than being only with a machine. At least he was sure they wouldn´t turn and murder him in an instant. No, that wouldn´t happen.  
“So. Any fucking idea where the others are? Ballora fucked off to search the others as well, how will we figure out if she managed?!”  
“They… most likely will return to the restaurant…?”  
“But how will we figure out, are you fucking DEAF?!”  
“Have you two considered asking another co-worker to stand by at the Pizzeria and call you in case of them returning?”  
Both of them paused, but neither of them looked at them looked at Ethan. Then Phone Guy simply activated his head and after a few rings, somebody accepted.  
“Yes, it´s me, Phone Guy… yes, I´m sorry for ringing you up… uh… listen, Jeremy, the animatronics are a bit… up and around… left the restaurant… hm… yes… a small mistake…” For a moment he paused. “You´d need to stay for a while at the pizzeria and... wait… You can come in later tomorrow, again I´m sorry…” Then he smiled. “Yes, thank you a lot. Call us when you see them!”  
“Talking on the phone and driving…?” A short disapproving noise came from the guy on the seat next to Phoney and the usually oh so responsible man shrunk a bit.  
“Sorry… it feels as if we don´t have any time…”  
For a moment it stayed quiet inside of the car, as they all weren´t sure as to how to move on with the conversation, especially since it was far too late in the night for every single one of them.  
But none of them had a healthy sleeping cycle, so it was not too bad of a situation.  
“Funtime Freddy is probably the easiest to find…” At some point Simon spoke back up, but it was more of a mumble, lost in thought. “… he is probably where a lot of people are…”  
Naturally, that made nobody more optimistic about this situation, but it sure as hell made them feel more confident about finding him.  
They drove past the main roads, each of them keeping an eye on the dimly illuminated walks at the sides.  
Worried and nervous Phoney tapped with his fingers against the steering wheel.  
What if the animatronic was inside someone´s house?  
Or a club?  
Actually in the back alleys…?  
He glanced at Mike in the car mirror, the guy looked annoyed and drained. The night probably took a bit of a toll on him… still, he was his best bet. For some reason he just KNEW when something was off… and he could lead you to it.  
Sometimes he couldn´t decide if Mike actually was more harm than good.  
Then again, Mike tried, Mike always tried and that was- something.  
Again they looked over the streets, until the employee suddenly sat up and Simon got ready to stop the car. For a while they all tensed up and looked around then Ethan spotted him, standing in front of two guys. “There he is!”  
They stopped the car and jumped out, ready to interrupt and help these poor sods, but they looked pretty content. The machine seemed to just finish it.  
“W-well because- because it´s unB-BEARABLE!”  
Both of them sounded… weird. “Duuuuuuuuuuude… he´s like… totally radical…”  
“Yeah duuuuuude… he´s like… a bear… dude…”  
Freddy was chipper. “O-oh BIRTHDAY boys! Y-yeah, I- I´m a BEAR! T-THAT MAKES IT SO HILARIOUS!”  
“Birthday? Duude, you didn´t tell me it´s your birthday…”  
“My birthday…? But dude… he said it´s your birthday too…”  
“Dude, I can´t… believe I forgot my birthday… dude…”  
Ethan stepped closer, those two were obviously high. But for now he couldn´t report on that, not with more important things going on. “Excuse me, would you step away from the animatronic, please?”  
Said machine wasn´t too pleased about that. “W-why?! We were JUST a-about to have FUN-FUN-FUN! Me a-and BONBON h-have a party to do s-so don´t interrupt!”  
“I doubt that these two are in any position still to “party”.” Ethan said with a disapproving side-glance at them.  
Phoney stepped to Freddy, a tad anxious, but knowing of his responsibility. “Freddy? You HAVE to return with us to the restaurant.  
“B-BUT I DON`T WANNA!” The bear grabbed the two strangers and hugged them tightly, refusing to let them go at any point. “W-WE WILL FLY AWAY! YOU C-CANNOT STOP US! THEY`RE M-MY NEW BEST FRIENDS!”  
“Duuuuuuude… totally!”  
“We love you, dude…!”  
How much did they SMOKE?  
Mike cracked his knuckles and reached for his Taser. “Okay, listen here you little shit, we can solve this in two way-“  
A car had stopped beside them and honked. Slwoly the window rolled down and revealed… Baby.  
“Get in loser, we´re going to hunt a nightguard.” She flipped her hair and tried to look cool in front of the group, sadly it didn´t really work, seeing as she was facing probably the most difficult people to impress on the whole damn planet.  
Freddy seemed impressed though. “B-baby! You can´t drive! Who´s driving!”  
“Ballora of course. Now, are you getting in?”  
This relieved Phone Guy so much. “Hey- we have Foxy! S-so, we´re- we have all the animatronics together already!” But relieve could only be for so long. “Wait, where did you- how did you get a car?”  
“Oh, a group of fine young gentleman offered me to take me bit of the way, so I accepted and kicked them out to use the car they so graciously offered.” There was a barely hidden smirk in her words.  
“Well then.” Weirded out Phone Guy turned to Ethan. “Mr. Cross, thank you a lot for your help… we will return the animatronics to restaurant this instant- I should quickly call Jerry and tell him he can leave again…”  
“God, I pray he kicks your fucking ass for waking him up for no reason and sending him back almost ten minutes after…” It was annoying Mike to just THINK about the situation.  
“Jerry wouldn´t do such a thing… and it wasn´t “for no reason” anyways! We had to make sure…” Distracted he began talking to the phone thanking Jeremy for helping out, while Ethan politely coughed, attracting the attention of Mike.  
“What the fuck do you want?” He raised an eyebrow.  
“You said your co-worker didn´t take over your shift like he should…?” Curious Ethan tried to figure out how that could have happened. Was it really a simple misunderstanding? Coincidences rarely occurred like that… especially not at Freddy´s.  
“The teen just popped up and… told me he was supposed to take over.” Uneasy Mike moved around. “Nothing more nothing less.”  
“But you aren´t sure if it was real.” Quietly Ethan concluded, inspecting Mike from head to toe.  
The guy stayed quiet, uncomfortable and simply walked off when Simon called for him. This wasn´t a conversation he wanted to have, not with someone he didn´t know. It was none of his fucking business.  
Before they would drive off though, Simon looked out at Ethan, who still was looking thoughtfully into the nothingness. “Excuse me, but… shouldn´t we bring you home?”  
For a moment the man hesitated, then he somewhat smiled. “Thank you very much, I appreciate the offer.”  
He sat back into the car and nodded to himself. “All is well that ends well it seems… beyond a few trashcans, nobody seems to have gotten hurt…”  
But he would need to check the newspaper tomorrow, to be sure.  
“How come you have a new worker? You didn´t strike me in need of one…”  
“Oh… well, he… kinda broke in and then wanted a job? So I figured might as well give him one… with our giant place we CAN benefit from a few more people… even if the most surveillance now is electronic it´s still nice to have people all over the place…” Simon shrugged a bit, his eyes still closely focused on the road.  
“Understandable. What´s his name…?”  
Mike interrupted, for some reason his stress levels peeked again. Suddenly all of his instincts screamed to get out of the same car as the detective. “If you´re so fucking curious, how about you ask him your-fucking-self. It´s not like you didn´t do that before to each and every one of us.”  
Sighing the Phone Guy shook his head. “Couldn´t you just be nice for once…?”  
Rubbing his face he growled. “No. But you know what, I´d like a fucking stroll home. Let me out.”  
“Mike, that´s childish, I didn´t mean to scare you out, I just wanted to-“  
“Stop the car or I´ll jump out of it while you fucking driving.”  
This wasn´t an empty threat and Simon knew that perfectly well. So he nodded quietly and pulled over, listening to Mike stepping out of the car. “I´ll talk to Nemo tomorrow and ask him about it…”  
“Sure, great idea.” He glanced at back at Foxy and almost fell back as there was a dark dog sitting on his place now, staring him down. The sound he had made was a quiet one, but his boss still managed to pick up on it.  
“E-everything alright there, Mike?”  
“There´s a fucking dog-“ WAS there a fucking dog? That thing might as well be-  
“Yes, the one is mine… or, uh, at least it somewhat… followed me home. But he was there the whole time…” Curiously Ethan looked at the Guard, wishing he would look into his medical documents and find out what it exactly was that went wrong with the man. “… you didn´t seem to be bothered-“  
“Never mind, fuck this. See you tomorrow.” It was barely more than a mumble, he didn´t want to deal with this anymore.  
Enough was enough.  
Today had been an exhausting day, tomorrow he would be forced to deal with the animatronics.  
But for today he had finished up.  
Hesitantly he checked his bottle of pills.  
Still enough there.  
Maybe he should use it more regularly.  
Just in case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So- I´m considering giving this a proper update schedule. Like- all three weeks are fine and dandy, but it´s a bit confusing? I feel like I can´t keep it in mind.  
> So, the thing I´m proposing is that I´m basically make it monthly for a while, just because that´s better to remember. I´d release on the 14th, since then I´d release something all two weeks and it would be nice and regular. What do you think, my peeps? Good idea? 
> 
> Gosh darnit, this chapter doesn´t really satisfy me... but I don´t know... so as always, critisism is welcome if you have any idea what I could correct!


	34. Out of sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plot? What´s a plot-  
> Uh- I meant of course-  
> People reflecting on themselves, their decisions and their situations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: It has been over a fucking year by now. Holy fuck. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR A FUCKING YEAR BY NOW. THIS HAS PROBABLY THE LENGTH OF A FUCKING B O O K-   
> God, time flies, doesn´t it? Lots of things changed. 
> 
> Me at the beginning of the story: Aw, this is just going to be a fun little thing I done to share my love for this series! It´s gonna be a bit of a sitcom styled thing, meaning that every chapter is a bit of a self-contained fun adventure that theoretically could go on forever, just so I can have a bit more of my loveable goofballs in my life! The only serious elements will come with introducing things, they´ll be far and in-between!   
> Me today: UHHHHHH THIS NEEDS- P L O T ™, IF THIS DOESN´T ADVANCE THE P L O T™ THEN THE CHAPTER IS B A D™! 
> 
> I seriously need to chill.   
> I hope you guys enjoy though!

There is never something actually there. Whenever you perceive reality, you perceive it a few milliseconds delayed, as first the light needs to reflect off a surface, then into your eyes and then be processed.   
Have you ever wondered how old the light is that you reflect? Minutes? Days? Years? Centuries?  
That didn´t matter, of course it didn´t. But it was interesting.   
Thinking about light was interesting when you were inside of a place that had none.   
Thinking about how your body and brain works was also interesting when you were on the verge of losing it.   
Your brain is a fascinating thing. It creates things that are not there, provided that there SHOULD be something.  
There were… noises. It had begun quite violently, though now he had gotten used to it. Those constant noises. Painfully ripping into his ears.   
But he liked it. It meant he was still there.   
And there were THINGS moving in front of him. Sometimes he could SEE things.   
From here, people were like small light dots. They had… connection. Thin, colorful lines without meaning, only there because his brain was certain they had to be there.   
Glowing spots in the dark, flickering and wandering alongside his vision, always moving away when he tried to follow them with his glance. From dot to dot he tried to jump, but it was simply impossible. When his pupils moved, the dots moved quicker.   
Frustrating.   
But frustration was good. It came with opinion and preference, it came with thoughts.   
One of the lines he could swear was real. He could feel it. It kept him in place, it kept him thinking.   
If anyone ever would have told him that it would be William he would be owing his one chance of escape to, he would have mocked them. Relentlessly. It was a foolish assessment. William lacked all competency and was aimless in his acting.   
Truly, the situation was somewhat haunting.   
This thin connection, this small shred of hope for an escape… it was all that he had left.   
Downgraded to a mere observer of the reality he had changed so proudly… a reality he was close to call his own…   
Torture, the true torture.   
Not the phantom pain, not the constant tearing at the seams of his being, the questioning if he even WAS a being-   
No, it was the helplessness, the forced paralysis-   
If you do not change, if you influence nothing, then you are truly dead-  
But he wasn´t. Not yet.   
Admittedly his grip was weak.   
The Puppet was still around. Still fine.   
A shame, a bother, it meant he would have to be somewhat careful.   
Yes, after the fire he had been so certain the child would break down and loosen up, be more suggestible, or downright become a monster. Monsters were laughably easy to handle, as they lacked any and all ability to aim their incredibly powerful rage at the right target.   
That boy pulled him back it seemed.   
Fine.   
That boy would become part of the experiment later down the line.   
The Orange Guy kept drawing away.   
Nothing he could not handle.   
The Orange Guy would return to his way of doing things, his personality had been thoroughly hollowed, he would only need a second slip up…   
Time was his best bet and the only thing he could rely on for his work.   
And while time in here was akin to being torn apart by your seams, it was still very worthwhile to carefully set the stage for his return. Getting hasty would only result in another failure, so shortly after his last one.   
A possibly devastating failure.   
No, scratch that. A definitely devastating failure.   
It felt downright useless to ponder these negative possibilities, but stuck inside his own head, with no power to take deliberate steps to ensure these possibilities would not occur…   
Nonsense.   
There was always a form of change that could be achieved, no matter how powerless you may appear.   
Slowly he relaxed into the nothingness around him, reaching for the edges, where nothing became something and things exist merely because they should. It was his mind shaping the illusion around him and he would learn after which principle this reality beyond worlds was functioning under.   
Yes, indeed, this place DID have some interesting aspect. For example, the utter timelessness. Since time was not passing it was highly likely that this place was capable of reconnecting different time and reality zones-   
It was highly likely that the only thing allowing him the semblance of passing time was that thin connection he was lucky to have.  
Luck.   
Part of him despised it.   
Luck was not calculable, luck could help one step and set two other steps back.   
Luck was a wolf in sheep´s clothing, gracing the victim in question with one quick blessing, merely to take the victory again and the whole project along as well.   
Opportunity was a far better thing.   
Those two got confused easily, yet they had a few key differences. Mainly that opportunity came from options, always depending on your own positions, while luck was loveless and neutral, striking without regard.   
Good luck they say, without even pausing to understand that with that they offering themselves up to fate, abandoning their own responsibility for the outcome in question.   
What happened to him wasn´t bad luck.   
It had been a mistake on his part, a failure and it should be treated as such, so he may would learn and take steps to never allow it to occur again.   
Sharply he inhaled air that didn´t exist, through lungs that were not there, angry at himself for realizing that he had falling back into his normal cycle of useless pondering.  
There was WORK to do!   
Again he concentrated on the light dots he could see, no matter if he attempted to close his eyes or turn away. Logically. He reached out slowly.   
Thoughts, intentions, needs, inspirations. Inside of the void, of this seemingly layer between all that existed… they were dots and lines, scribbles and mumbles. All he had to do was add onto it. 

-

At the entrance of Freddy´s- pardon, Circus Baby´s- stood a man pressed against the wall, a heavy baseball bat in hand. He was waiting on the inside, for his victim to come in, a victim that well-deserved what was coming to him.   
But, while he was peering around the corner a pair of hand snatched away his bat. “Don´t threaten people with broken bones before he can explain himself.”   
“Don´t tell me what to fucking do!”   
“What if it isn´t Nemo, but Orange Guy-“   
“Just as good!”   
“Okay- what about Jeremy?”   
“He has the Puppet to protect him, what the fuck can I even do to him-“   
“Yeah, but that Puppet will be ANGRY with you, Mike! And an angry Puppet isn´t a nice Puppet!” He held up the bat over his head, trying his best to not let the guy get to it as he leaned closer and jumped for it, ending up almost on top of Simon, tearing him down. “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MIKE!”   
“JUST GIVE ME BACK MY FUCKING BAT!” Pinning him down to the best of his abilities he tried to force him to let go of his favorite weapon.   
They wrestled for a while like that, until an angsty voice behind them interrupted them. “So… you two are having fun? Can´t you do that shit like… in the backroom, or… whatever? Because I´m kinda traumatized now, thanks for that.”   
“YOU!” Mike jumped up and tried to strangle him, but was grabbed beforehand and felt on top of the Phone Guy, who was making a choked noise as a grown man crashed down onto his chest and stomach.   
Yet, somehow he managed to get his words out. “Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike! ASK HIM FIRST! G-God dammit, how hard can that be?!”  
Bored and apathetic Nemo stared down at them. “What.”   
Finally giving his boss what he wanted, Mike asked first and punched later. “YOU! YOU WERE FUCKING HERE YESTERDAY, WEREN´T YOU?!”   
“What.”   
“YOU FUCKING TOLD ME TO GO HOME, BECAUSE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SHIFT!”   
“What.”   
“AND THEN YOU FUCKING LEFT YOURSELF, LETTING THE ANIMATRONIC BREAK OUT!”   
“What.”   
“ANSWER ME YOU FUCK!”   
“I´m answer, I just have no idea what your dusty freak-brain is coming up with or why.”   
“YOU DID THESE THINGS, DIDN`T YOU?!”   
A pause ensued as Nemo inspected him, seemingly slowly realizing the guy on the ground was serious. “Nope. Whatever you took yesterday, you haven´t met me, really. Do I look like I´d come back to this shithole at night just to fuck with you? `Kay, it´d be HILARIOUS, but I would have recorded it and put it on the internet. Haven´t done that, so it wasn´t me.”   
Angry Mike hissed, but at least he didn´t appeared as if he wanted to attack anyone, so finally Simon let him go, having him scrambling to get up. “We´ll see about that, you fuck. You have five minutes to run away if you actually were here, otherwise you might as well say goodbye to your fucking face.”   
Dashing off he hoped to be proven correctly, though deep down he already knew the answer. He had blacked out again. AGAIN.   
Simon was right behind him, sighing quietly, but even that small noise only served to enrage Mike even more. Shut up, Simon, he knew this was all his fault and he was being unreasonable. Stop with your passive aggressive bullshit, we all know what you´re thinking.   
They arrived in the office and Mike jumped onto the PC, though he couldn´t log onto it to get access to the cameras, so he had to step back and impatiently tap his foot while Simon put in his password and wordlessly stepped aside.   
Even in his silence he managed to be accusing.   
But when he was silent, he couldn´t scream at him to shut up, not without looking insane.   
Not that he didn´t look like that already, right?! HA-HA.   
He rewound the footage to back around the time that Mike left the building. No matter how much he rewound, there was just not a second the teen would appear on the screens.   
Because he never had been there in the building in the first place.   
The sarcastic voice came form the guy, who had followed them as well. “So? Am I a teleporter or whatever? Do I actually have nothing better to do than piss you off?”   
“Fuck off, or I´ll break your face anyways.” Mike´s voice was barely more than a whisper.   
“Geez… whatever, freak.”   
Only when his steps had become inaudible that he looked at the door, ready to pounce whatever was there.   
Nothing, thankfully.   
“Uh… Mike…?” Simon hesitantly called out to him and got a growl in response.   
“What do you want? Rub it in?! I´ll fucking… I´ll fucking take my drugs more regularly. It won´t fucking happen again, alright?!”   
“I… never actually said anything in that direction.” The worry in his voice was even more apparent than before. “It´s- uh, it´s not your fault, you know that, right?”   
“As if. I should have fucking checked my pills. Taken one, just in fucking case.”   
“You couldn´t have known, this place is crazy…”   
“Not as crazy as I AM, OBVIOUSLY!” There was now a tint of hysteria in his voice.   
“Mike Schmidt!” Suddenly stern, Phoney grabbed his shoulder. “You aren´t crazy! Dave is crazy! Old Sport is crazy! You aren´t crazy. You… you have problems, sure, but we all do! H-heck, I probably even have a lot more of them than you!”  
“Oh great, fucking- is this supposed to make me feel better?!” The employee hissed, but before they could continue, a knock interrupted.   
“B O I. Where was my greeting, Phoney?!” Orange Guy looked in and smiled.   
“I´m- can´t you see that I´m busy?!” Distraught he turned to the newcomer, obviously not pleased with being interrupted.   
“Aw, no time for your favorite employee? How am I supposed to know what I got to do today!”   
“Today… uh- okay. You know what. For today you get my position.”   
“What?!” Deeply surprised Old Sport tilted his head.   
“WHAT?!” Mike turned around, forgetting for a minute his anger.   
“Y-yeah. You´ll… just try to be everywhere, coordinate the other three- the puppet counts as guard now, doesn´t he- uh… keep an eye on the place, take nagging customers in your own hand, don´t do anything that will get us legally in trouble, piece of cake- we´ll- uh… with you… just… remember, things that will kill a person aren´t forgivable. Everything else, we can… we can at least hope, I think. Uh- if everything else fails, call me. Dave knows my damn number after all.” After doing what was probably under the top ten of the worst decision of his career, he turned back to Mike. “Now come along, we need to talk.”   
In his utter confusion Mike went along, not even questioning why he would be singled out for this.   
Equally as confused Old Sport looked after them, asking himself as to what could be so important that Phoney would leave his career and life in his hands to tend to it.   
Dragging his co-worker off into a yet vacant place of the park Phoney made sure that they had a calm place and two comfortable chairs to sit in, so they could talk this out.   
As soon as Mike caught on to this, he swore. “Oh- Oh fuck NO. We aren´t having a heart-to-heart, I´m not having a fucking breakdown. I´m a fucking fine adult-“   
“Adults sometimes need to talk too, you know?”   
“Yeah, but I-“   
“Okay. Maybe I want to talk.”   
Breaking off at that, Mike looked at him in irritation. Though at this point his anger has boiled down and tired him out, so he sat down and watched as Simon went away to get them two soft ice, resulting in a scoff. “I don´t want fucking ice cream.”   
“Because you never want anything nice.” Phoney took off his receiver, the attached cap and placed the cone inside of it. With mild disgust Mike watched it slowly vanish in there.   
“… don´t you get brain freeze from that?”   
“That would require me to have a brain, Mike.”   
“No need to get fucking sassy at me for this.” Frustrated Mike began eating his own treat. “Now what do you want to fucking talking about?”   
“…” Finally pausing Simon moved around uncertain. “… I, uh… I didn´t think this through.”   
“No shit, Sherlock. I know what this is for. You just want to fucking lie to my face to protect my precious fee-fees, before I fucking kill myself.”   
“I know you wouldn´t do that.”   
“Yeah, that´s more your style, isn´t it?” Sarcastic Mike hissed.   
“… Those hallucinations… since when do you have them?”   
“Who are you, my therapist?”   
“I´m trying to make a point here! Why do I have TWO angsty h-hecks to take care of?!”   
“DON`T COMPARE MY TO THAT TEEN!”   
“THEN ACT LIKE AN A-ADULT, FOR GOSH´S SAKE!”   
“FUCKING- FINE!” Enraged Mike fell back into the chair. “It started with my fucking accident, big surprise.”   
Phone Guy nodded thoughtfully. “It´s something wrong with your brain.”   
“I have no idea where you´re going with this.”   
“You had an accident and your brain is now… unreliable. You can´t control it, you don´t know what causes it.”   
“I hate the way you talk to me. What the fuck do you-“  
“Mike, you might be sick, but at least you don´t have to constantly ask yourself if you were build that way and maybe someday someone will push a button to MAKE your go berserk, so they can get whatever they want.”   
Finally he managed to shut Mike up.   
Since no answer came, he continued. “You know, Mike… maybe you ARE sick. You can´t trust yourself? Yeah. That… that, uh… is harsh. I would know. But at least you don´t have to be scared that… you´re going to… that somebody gets to decide about it…”   
Another long pause ensued. “You think somebody controls… your blackouts? You have those?”   
“… Not technically.” Phoney sounded worried. “Not yet. But- I don´t know… I think- I… Mike, I think… sometimes…”  
“Spit it out.”   
“Do you think I´m… I sometimes think that I´m… I´m a program.”   
This was a rollercoaster ride of confusion and irritation for the poor Guard. “What are you talking about- how can that be, you have memories and shit from before you were a phone-head, right?! Ian?”   
“… I think a lot about him.” His voice was quiet. “… and… sometimes I feel… I think… I don´t feel ENOUGH. I don´t… I don´t think I REALLY feel what I SHOULD feel- it hurts, Mike. It hurts, but it´s… it´s so far away.”   
Fuck. How was he supposed to react to that?   
“It- it feels as if I, uh- as if I just feel bad because I have to- sometimes it hurts, sometimes it´s just… numb… and I- I think it´s wrong, it feels like that.”   
“… fuck. Simon. How the fuck am I supposed… I can´t fucking tell you how you´re SUPPOSED to feel!”   
“… but… you-“   
“Put yourself together, fucking hell! Who cares?” As always he exploded at his problems.   
“He was my brother. I loved him. I- I think I loved him, I- was taking care of him, I was there for him and- there was nothing I wanted more than for him to be better, you know? It was always… us two. People didn´t really understand him- or they… they often didn´t have the patience. But he was wonderful. He WAS. Yet, whenever I think back it´s… I´m just…”   
“It´s been awhile, hasn´t it? You got your memories wiped, your life threatened an uncountable amount of time, you´ve been kicked in and out of all sorts of events… emotions don´t stick around forever, you know? And fuck why would you WANT that?”   
Simon seemed to want to say something, but Mike interrupted him.   
“It won´t bring him back, sure as fuck and it doesn´t make the world a better place for you. I get it. I- it´s the end of the fucking world. It feels like the end of the world. And because it feels like the end of the world to you, you want the rest of the world to stop, to shut up and suffer. Everything SHOULD be fucking greyer. You- it´s really harsh to realize that the world is still fucking the same, because it feels like nothing fucking matter in the grand scheme of things.”   
“Is this supposed to make me feel better?” His voice sounded weak and pathetic, he was obviously tired.   
“No. Not really. I just- fucking fuck, I want you to realize that you don´t OWE him to feel bad. You don´t owe any-fucking-one but yourself to feel bad and mourn. I doubt Ian wants you to be sad, it doesn´t help anyone. Mourning is a thing for yourself you do on your own. You take your own fucking time off and nobody gets to tell you that you mourn too long or too shortly, you deal with it however the fuck you want! But I always thought mourning is like… a… you know, like putting fucking cucumbers into vinegar, you know-“   
“Conservation?”   
“Yeah! That shit. You mourn so you can later go back and take out the happy shit you remember about them. So allow yourself to mourn to at one point go back and say “yeah, I´m glad that person was there even if too shortly”. You allow yourself to get drenched in the vinegar that you wouldn´t touch on your own, just so you can make sure the cucumbers don´t go back and make you sick, because you put them away and forgot about them and now they´re all rotten and shit and you don´t have anything from it-“ Interrupted by a small chuckle, Mike looked up at Phoney. “Oh, this is fucking HILARIOUS, isn´t it? LOOK AT ME, I`M TRYING TO MAKE A CRYBABY FEEL BETTER!”   
“No, no- I just didn´t know you were such a poet with your words. What a nice picture you paint!” Phoney´s voice was still weak, but you could hear a smile and it resulting in Mike growing a bit red.   
“Shut the fuck up. I gave it my best shot to help you and THIS is what I get. There´s a reason I don´t help pieces of shit like you.”   
Again a quiet laugh came from Phoney who shifted around. “So you think… my emotions aren´t… controlled? That I just… that I just… feel what I´m programmed to feel so-“   
“What would it get the factory? You´re distracted and sad. What could the factory fucking WANT from you if they would do this to you? Sad people aren´t really fucking useful, are they? If they would decide to manipulate your emotions… wouldn´t they want to keep you… in constant emotional numbness or some fucking shit? So you don´t fight back on anything?”   
“Yeah… I guess… but, uh… wouldn´t this be it?”  
“I don´t fucking KNOW Simon, I´m not part of some team of psychologist who fucks around and has analyzed this type of shit! I think sad people are more likely to be angry if you fucking ask me, but I DON´T KNOW!”   
Another pause ensued, while Simon was playing around with his fingers. “You know… uh… you…”   
“I?” Annoyed the aggressive Guard raised an eyebrow.   
“It´s always nice to remember that you actually… uh… that you´re actually not pure anger.”   
“Fake it ´till you make it.”   
“Why would you want to be nothing but rage?” Carefully Simon reached out to his friend and was surprised as the guy wouldn´t move away. Softly he petted his shoulders, resulting in a soft sigh.   
“Because that´s easier?”   
“… Sure you aren´t just, uh… edgy?”   
“I want to murder you right now with both of my hands.”   
“Oh, I get more than only one?! I´m really honored!” Joking Phoney jabbed back.   
“You Phone-fuck will get in serious trouble in a minute!” Not really aggressive he growled.   
“Oh no, I uh… going to get, uh…” He tried hard to come up with something.   
“Punched?”   
“You? Punching ME? Huh, I uh… I thought you would put more creative effort into this.”   
“Why do I tolerate you.” At this point he sounded resigned and looked around, trying to change topic. “… Isn´t it weird how nobody has come here yet?”   
This part of the park was still weirdly empty, despite noises and laughter in the distance indicating that the park had already filled up with visitors.   
“Yeah… huh.” Phoney stood up and looked around the corner. “… maybe the Orange Guy actually managed to set something SO interesting up, that nobody even wants to come back here? It´s pretty much, uh, a relax area for adults anyways, so… maybe that´s it? Or, heh, we got sucked into some sort of purgatory.”   
“DON`T SAY THAT, IT MIGHT COME FUCKING TRUE!” His friend jumped up and screeched out. “I WOULDN´T PUT THIS PAST THIS HELLISH PLACE!”   
If Simon could, he would roll his eyes, but so instead he just clicked his rotary around 360 degrees and shrugged. “Uh… yeah. Sure. I think ending up in purgatory would be one of the best possible outcomes… at least for, uh… me.”   
“I don´t want to be fucking stuck in purgatory, fucking hell.”   
“Mike, let me be clear, I don´t think we are-“ He broke off as a kid ran past him, followed by a small crowd of masked and unmasked children. Turning to Mike he signed at them. “See?”   
But the Guard had only taken out his pills, suspiciously eyed them, then took two at once for good measure. “That ain´t a fucking proof to me, but whatever, let´s go back to our job or something.”   
They headed back to the main area, Simon slowing down more and more as they came closer.   
Oh god, what had he done?!  
He had- the Orange Guy-   
Christ, he had given the Orange Guy control over the WHOLE building, didn´t he?!   
“Mike… have you ever uh… considered…” Uncomfortable he moved around. “So, uh… you know, I, uh… appreciate you as my worker and… uuh… everything in general…”   
There came no sound from Mike but Phoney could feel his glare melting through his metal. Coughing shortly he tried to get to the point faster.   
“A-and, uh- you know, I- uhm… I wouldn´t ever, uh… be angry with you for… so, uh… I mean… you know…”   
“What the fuck do you want now.”   
“Just saying that- uh… I mean… you know, if you would ever HYPOTHETICALLY skip a day- you know that I´d, uh- PERSONALLY come to SEARCH you and uh-“   
Stopping dead in his tracks Mike gave him one of the oddest stares he had in his arsenal. “Are you fucking asking me to give you an excuse to fuck off?”   
“Uh…” Helpless Simon nodded.   
“What the living fuck. What was about the dog you have to send after me if I do?”   
“I mean, uh- I can make an excuse-“   
“Is it because you know Old Sport fucked us all over already?”   
“… yes.”   
“You little pussy. You´re not only a prick, you´re also a fucking coward who can´t fucking face consequences!” Disbelieving the Dayguard threw his hands into the air. “Over my dead fucking body I help you with this. It would make you a fucking hypocrite.”   
“Sure about that?” A tad hopeless Simon sighed and accepted his fate.   
The Phone had only be partially right to be this worried, because at first Old Sport had been doing really damn well.   
He had gathered everyone in the office as they arrived and was walking in front of them back and forth. “EVERYONE, LISTEN UP!”   
“Do you have to scream…?” Jerry rubbed his ears. The boy knew it wasn´t in bad faith, but this early at morning…?  
“THIS IS IMPORTANT! OF COURSE I HAVE TO SCREAM!” Old Sport flailed his arms around. “WE ARE AT WAR! THEY TOOK PHONEY AND MIKE ALREADY!”   
The Puppet moved around, slightly disgruntled.   
They what?  
“THEY TOOK PHONEY! THE FACT THAT I´M ABLE TO CLAIM THAT HE´S GONE PROVES HE´S GONE, DOESN´T IT?!”   
Not… I mean… partially, yes, but WHO took him and why?   
“THE CHILDREN! WE ARE ON LOCKDOWN RIGHT NOW!” Jumping onto the chair he continued his screeching. “WE NEED A BARRICADE! WE NEED WEAPONS! EVERYBODY, GET OUT YOUR COMPANY ISSUES KAZOOS!”   
“Our company issued…” Confused Jerry searched his pockets for them, while Dave pulled them out with no problem.   
“LEAD US SPORTSY! TO VICTORY!” He raised the… music instrument…(?) and howled in excitement.   
“WE WILL REVENGE OUR FALLEN BROTHERS! ONWARDS!” Turning to the table he tried to roll out the office by pushing himself away from it with one foot, but since he was a damn buffoon he only managed to make the chair fall over, sending him crashing down. Panicked Jeremy crouched down next to him, while the Puppet snickered a bit mean-spirited.   
“O-Oh god, are you alright O-Old Sport?!”   
The first answer he got was a weakly raised arm with a thumbs-up, followed by a pathetic cough. “They… they took yet another victim…you will have to… go on… without me…”   
“Uh…” But before Jerry could say anything of worth, Dave took over.   
“WE WILL! THIS IS THE TIME TO ACTIVATE MY AUTOMATIC BARRICADE BUILDER!” Out of seemingly nothing he took a remote and pressed some unsuspicious grey button.   
“You… you have an automatic barricade- how?”   
Slowly Dave turned towards the non-believer, his eyes glowing menacing in the sudden shadows casted over him for dramatic effect. “This is my restaurant. I have built demons and gods in its bowels, its metal veins is filled with the very essences of life, nothing inside here is out of my reach and it bows to my whims and wishes. There are things hidden here, trapdoors and secret areas, in the middle of the building, deep down below is a pumping heart, feeding this insatiable place with energy constantly, as it demands more and more. Who enters can only pray to me that I allow them to leave the place again and-“   
The shadow covering his upper face vanished and he looked up. “AY! Alice! That ain´t fuckin´groovy, I was in the middle of an dramatic speech!”   
A little ballerina girl sat at the lamp and yawned, before giggling sassy.   
Grumbling Dave shook his head. “There you go, you try bein´ a cool guy once and your own machine betrays ya. Anyways, of course we have a barricade mode, it´s supposed to be installed since the… uh… 55th location? Dunno, can´t fucking remember. All I remember is the robots finding out how to heat up cheese to the point of plasma and the workers REALLY NEEDING ONE. Now that that´s out of the way, are ya comin´, we gotta fight some toddlers!”   
Not really caring Dave dashed out and stood upon the barricade, screaming out. “COME AT ME, YEE WHO HAVE HARMED MY ONE AND ONLY!”   
Nobody seemed to mind, really, quite the opposite in fact- giggling the kids began scaling the barricade, some with the help of their laughing parents, who just thought that this was a special event for today, while Dave gave his best to YEET THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS RIGHT BACK DOWN.   
Not after long Old Sport joined him, a pot over the head and a long wooden stick in hand, poking the kiddens while they tried to come up.   
Baby in the distance watched them in wonder and the kids that had been listening to her signing ran over after having watched the fun for a while, wanting to be in on it and also damn their fellow kids to a bone-shattering fall, because well, all kids are demons.   
As they rushed past Dave he screeched out. “THEY INFILTRATED, SPORTSY! WE ARE DONE FOR! RETREAT, RETREAT!”   
Sadly this attracted the attention of the kids, who instantly thought it was part of the game and that they were supposed to fight the Guard´s instead of the other kids and began to grab onto them, while a flood of other kids managed to climb the barricades, joining the kids already attacking. Quickly both Dave and Old Sport were overwhelmed and dragged away, while Jeremy nervously watched from the distance.   
“Should… should we help them…?” Quietly he leaned to the Marionette, who only shrugged.   
They will be fine. This is part of the game.   
“Are you sure about that? They are screaming for help…”   
All part of the game…  
At this point Phoney and Mike came around, the Phone-head starting to beep at the sight of the stacked tables and chairs in the middle of the restaurant. “EMPLOYEE, WHAT DID YOU DO!?”   
“S-sorry, sir- good to see you are fine-“   
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I`M FINE?! WHY SHOULDN`T I BE!?” For his screaming he was getting a dirty look for Jeremy´s protector, but he really couldn´t care less.   
“Old Sport implied that the kids… preoccupied you…?” Actually, what did Old Sport say again? What could have kids possibly done to two grown man…?   
“I- AND YOU JUST- WENT ALONG?!”   
Helplessly the young Guard shrugged. “What was I supposed to do…?”   
“Ah- sorry Jeremy, I, uh- I´m a bit tense right now. Where are they?” Referring to both Dave and Old Sport, seeing as neither was far from the other, Simon looked around.   
“The kids brought them… over there I think?” Vaguely the boy gestured to a direction and Simon dashed off, leaving Mike and the kid alone. Shyly said boy smiled at him. “So… where were you actually?”   
The need to say something obscene was extreme, but his self-preservation was stronger. “We went talking and eat a bit of soft ice.”   
“Ow, that sounds nice! We have a machine around here?”   
“Yeah, it´s… somewhere in the back.”   
“Where exactly?” Hopeful he looked up at him. “I really would like some right now!”   
“We shouldn´t leave, maybe Simon needs-“   
In the distance they heard him screaming “DON´T PUT EMPLOYEES INTO THE MECHANISM FOR THE JUMPING PLATFORM- wait. No, you know what, with these two it´s fine. Uh- employees, I expect of you two to clean up after your misadventure later!”   
Mike and Jerry had an awkward, then Mike groaned and signed to follow him. “Seems he´ll be fine.” 

At the end of the day, after finally having free themselves from the death-grip of their machine, the two psychos headed home, pretty exhausted.   
While walking home the Orange Guy was unusually quiet, pondering something that had quietly nagged him for a while now and once they finally entered their home, he gathered himself enough to just ask it.   
“You know…” Old Sport picked out a few springs that got stuck in his clothes. “… Dave?”   
“Hm, bby?” Apparently Dave had been satisfied with the day´s work and his higher brain function were now on stand-by.   
“I´ve always asked myself since you got a time machine down there… why didn´t you go back and help Henry before his death?” The question was asked hesitantly, the answer would either be very good or very bad.   
The Orange Guy wasn´t delusional. But after the talk they had where Dave seemed quite accepting-   
Well, it could be because he had taken over Henry´s place in Dave´s life and the psychopath didn´t care WHO paid attention to him, as long as somebody did.   
It could also be that he had been so calm about it because deep down he had been terrified to be left alone again.   
He wasn´t allowed to trust Dave, not really…  
For a while there was silence, then Dave sighed. “Listen Sportsy, you don´t know much about time travel, do ya? Of course I couldn´t go back in time, that ain´t gucci with those fuckin´ paradoxes. If I went back to help Henry, I couldn´t have went back to help Henry, could I? I wouldn´t even exist. But the fact that I wouldn´t even exist would lead to me not goin´ back to help Henry. See where I´m coming from?”   
“Uh-“ The Orange Guy was thoroughly surprised.   
“You can go into the future all you like and fuck around there, it ain´t resulting in a paradox, because you always stay the same. But if you go back, you´re going to fuck yourself up big time! I mean- same goes for meeting yourself in the future. That´s also a big no-no for that reason. Get it?”   
Deeply impressed Old Sport nodded and looked at one of the springs in his hands. “Oh… well, that´s… makes sense. I´ll go shower now, I need to get all that kidden-grease off me!”   
“Take ya time! And if you need somethin´ just call me in!” It wasn´t certain as to how ironic it was meant, but as soon as Old Sport disappeared, Dave dashed down into the workshop, where they had left the machine after their last adventure.   
Sadly, the machine wasn´t there anymore, resulting in a childish fit from Dave. “OH YOU FUCKIN´ TAXES, SUCK MY FAX-“   
If he only had sooner thought of that idea.   
Oh well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Nobody ask, but I still felt like explaining. Maybe I shouldn´t even have mentioned it, but… eh. Too late now, right?   
> Hope you enjoyed!


	35. Talk it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People who are rather different, spend some quality time with each other. Nobody is happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> University started, I will die.   
> I try to keep this up. I promise. But my day is majorly shortened.

It was another day, as promised.   
It ALWAYS was another day.   
Was it a better day?   
Who knew. Not for Mike at least, who was already feeling bored and stressed.   
Part of him wondered if it was a side effect of his pills. Shouldn´t he at this point be used to those?  
Well. Who knew.   
Maybe he just felt like shit.   
Maybe it just was a bad day, who cares.   
Through the hall he could feel an intense stare on him, but when he looked up and noticed it only was the idiotic new kid. To this Guard, he would always be the new kid, no matter how long he´d survive and stupidly stick around.   
Seeing that Mike wasn´t staring daggers into him, the boy took it as the go-ahead to join him.   
“So…” Angst Mcteen slid in next to Mike, who felt too bored to tell him off. “… weird things happening here often?”   
“The fuck do you think, huh?” He growled. “Of course! We have fucking murderbots entertaining our customers! Not to mention that you can basically always count on Dave and Orange Guy to do some stupid shit and build something dangerous.”   
“You mean… that thing yesterday, like… didn´t surprise you?” Rather interested Nemo glanced at the back of the restaurant… park? Giant hall? Giant hall. But neither of the colorful Guards were anywhere to be seen. Maybe they were in another section of the complex.   
“Not even in the fucking slightest. I WISH it would have surprised me, it would mean that it doesn´t fucking happen all the time. It´s actually common enough that we ignore it when we can. For example a while ago they build a machine that was apparently meant to drain any sort of individuality and mental resistance out of the victim.”   
“Sounds kinda like a big deal?”   
“Nah, they tested in on Jerry of all people and then declared it non-functioning, apparently unaware that it wouldn´t have any sort effect anyways. But at least it confirmed to me that Jerry isn´t some sort of super evil genius that manipulates us all by pretending to be numbnut.”   
A presence loomed behind them and as they turned, the Puppet was there, staring them down. “Excuse me, what did you just say about Jeremy?”   
Rather embarrassed mentioned boy waved at them, standing by. “Oh, come on Marion, it was a joke…?”   
Sadly enough it was already too late. Mike leaned forward and stared the animatronic Guard down. “I SAID…” he repeated, “… that for a while I was certain that Jeremy´s braindead behavior was an obvious and intentional scheme to make us fall for his guise of retardation and manipulate us into acting like he wants or not suspecting him when things go south.”   
“How DARE you talking like this about Jeremy!” The Puppet hissed. “This is unacceptable, especially seeing as he is not only smarter, but more sensible than you can EVER dream to be! You cannot grasp how much wiser his behavior is compared to-“   
“Shut up Noodle-freak.” Scoffing Mike glanced at his co-workers. “You´re saying this because you fucking have to. Otherwise you would have to admit that you fucking LIKE Jeremy being easily manipulated and so fucking submissive to you! Anybody else would have fucking ditched you and NEVER looked back, I guarantee you! Honestly, Jerry is the worst guard and person overall in this fucking building!”   
This got him majorly weird glances, especially from the newly joined Simon who wanted to check what the uproar was about and already regretted his decision. Despite that, Mike kept going.   
“If I had to spend an eternity with him or fucking- Orange Guy, I´d chose the moldy orange because a least I would be stuck with an actual human being! Someone who DOES shit and who isn´t all happy-go-lucky at all time, making me want to fucking PUKE!”   
Jerry had joined too, not liking being talked about without his knowledge. At the comments Mike made about him he frowned and shook his head. “That´s really mean of you! I always try my best with people and I don´t think I deserve being talked about behind my back like that!”   
“I´m currently looking right at your non-existent face. But if you want me to repeat it-“   
“No! I don´t need to hear that again, I already understand. But have you ever considered that maybe if more people were like me, the world would be a better place?!”   
“OH SHIT, YOU´RE A FUCKING ARRGOANT CUNT TOO!?”   
Taken aback, Jerry´s frown got distressed. “N-No, but- I- you can´t deny I´m giving my best! I have always tried my hardest and never made people more m-miserable on purpose! Unlike YOU!”   
“Wow, I´m soooooo hurt. Can you hurt me a little more, pretty pleaaaaaase~?”   
“I have no need to hurt you- I´m not even mad-“   
“God I fucking want you dead. Somebody could shove a stick up your ass and you´d thank them, wouldn´t-“   
Red, but somehow without stutter Jerry hit back. “Somehow you have to cope with your small willy!”  
The restaurant fell silent.   
It wasn´t the quality of the burn.   
But it came from Jerry.   
After a whole minute in which the boy slowly sunk into himself, yet brave enough to not take it back and all of a sudden, as if the people surrounding him had prepared that moment, they all started OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW-ing.   
ALL OF THEM.   
EVEN THE ANIMATRONIC WHO HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON.   
MIKE WENT TO HIS KNEES, KNOWING HIS LIFE WAS OVER.   
JERRY INSULTED HIM.   
THIS WAS JUST THE DEATH SENTENCE.   
HAVING HIS BODY DRAGGED BEHIND A BUS FOR TEN HOURS WOULD BE MORE OF A DIGNIFIED DEATH.   
After having OWWWWW-ed his heart out Simon laughed and tried to help him up, but was met with nothing but a ball of shame. “Oh- uh- come on Mike- you KIND OF deserve this- uh-“   
Voice still shaking from laugh he had to break off to get the giggles out.   
“Nobody is ever allowed to talk to me again. I died. Bring the fucking casket.”   
Jerry was also a bit worried. “H-hey… get… y-you can´t lie on the floor, it´s- dirty and cold…”   
“Who cares, I´m dead anyways.”   
“N-no you aren´t…” A bit helpless he moved him. “… you just- I didn´t mean to hurt you, but… it´s true, your- your insecurities HAVE to come from somewhere-“   
“Kick me while I´m down, why don´t you?”   
“I- I don´t mean your- I- Mike… you need to TALK with people more-“   
Unrolling himself, the aggressive Guard gave him a stare. “With you? No fucking chance-“   
“Actually, uh- that´s a great idea! You two are always, uh- you know- fighting. Not fighting directly, seeing as Jeremy never retaliates, but- uh… yeah. You two should spend an afternoon with each other.”   
Slowly Mike realized he was serious. Panicked he sat up, trying to play his trump card. “No fucking way- there´s no fucking way his watch-puppet will allow that-“   
As his eyes darted around, he spotted the Marionette in a short distance away, looking distracted. When called out for, the Puppet looked confused for a second, then seemed to be thinking about it. “Actually… that sounds like a stellar idea.”   
“Like I already said, he doesn´t fucking allow- wait what?” Mike appeared confused.   
“Yes. I agree. Jeremy, as well as yourself would be benefitting from a day together.” The creature rolled his glowing orbs for a moment. “Maybe he will leave me alone with it then…”   
Proud like he just won a wrestling match with a bear, Jerry smiled at his horrified co-worker. “You will see, we´ll become true friends in no time!”   
“No thank you, I´d rather fucking-“   
“You, uh- you should at least TRY, Mike.” For a moment Simon sounded pretty serious. “I think it could really help you.”   
“Help me with fucking WHAT?” Snapping at his boss, the Guard stood now fully up and dusted himself off.   
Jerry was the one to answer that. “With your stress! I think a lot of your stress comes from your attitude and I want to help you with that!”   
“Sure you fucking can. Maybe if I wouldn´t be stuck in this fucking hellhole, I´d have a better attitude!”   
“I don´t believe you really…”  
“Tough fucking luck.” There was a smirk on Phoney. Mike could SEE it. “Whatever you´re thinking, don´t you dare-“   
“Employees, you should take an day off for further education. A day dedicated to enhance your, uh… social capabilities!”   
“You mean I get a fucking day off if I hang around with that little shit?”   
“… Somewhat?” Dave and Old Sport had been pretty peaceful in their own kind of way, nothing Phoney couldn´t handle.   
Apparently that was enough for Mike, who grabbed his small co-worker and dragged him off. “Bye then, have fun with screaming customers.”   
While walking away, the Puppet snatched Jerry´s hat to wear it, as well as taking off his badge. Despite being supposed to have SOME form of official guard-duty, he didn´t use any sort of signifier… and usually he didn´t need to. When a floating demon creature moves towards you with glowing eyes and ominous music in the background, you drop WHATEVER you´re doing and run away.   
For today’s agenda though, it would come in handy to have these those two things.   
On his way to the stage he pinned the badge carefully to his chest, a light shiver running over him. Softly he touched the buttons placed there and paused, before shaking his head and ignoring it, just like he ignored the customers pouring in one by one, as Simon and Nemo were trying their hardest to not have the space implode instantly with the amount of the customers wanting to be inside the church of furries.   
On top of the stage the main attraction stood, in all her pride. Smiling to herself she tested her microphone ready and eager for a day of entertaining those around her.   
She clearly didn´t expect the Puppet approaching her, much less beginning to talk.   
“Hello. It is time for a short maintenance check-up.” The Marionette had thought about different approaches to this lost soul that he could only look at with a mixture of pity and anger.   
“Wouldn´t my fathers do that?” Her voice was somewhat… bratty. But that may was only his assessment, since he was paranoid.   
“They are busy.”   
“You are a machine.”  
“Correct. Who would know better than me?”  
Another moment she paused, her eyes darting to the customers entering. The longer the puppet stuck around, the less she could enjoy her day. “Hurry then.”   
With that she finally began following him through the main hall, smiling and waving at all the kids seeing and trying to approach her. For a moment her eyes wandered towards the tall animatronic, wondering if he didn´t care that he was too scary to be adored.   
He was an animatronic, shouldn´t he want to be approached by children?   
Shouldn´t he suffer under the extreme loneliness?   
Then again, the animatronic seemed to be rather comfortable around the Guards.   
“… so… why do you exist?” Smiling she asked him. “What is your purpose?”   
“… what do you mean.” It didn´t have the tone of a question, only the sentence structure.   
“It is obvious, is it not? I was made to entertain kids and be useful! You on the other hand… You don´t look like… anything.”   
“Charming.”   
“I prefer the direct approach, you see?”   
“I do. But I prefer…” For a moment he trailed off. “… actually it is not too bad. We have something along these lines to talk about anyways, so it is a rather good starting point.”   
“… Talk?” Instantly she seemingly lost interest. “… what could we talk about that is so important we need to do so before the restaurant closes- or rather, RIGHT as the place opens?”   
“I am usually a bit preoccupied with keeping the children safe. And at night my- the nightguards.”   
“Hm… you are not doing a very good job.”   
“Until now nobody died, which is all that counts.”   
“I guess.” Swiftly she sat down on the table in the room, waiting for the Marionette to do… whatever it was planning. “… so. You wanted to answer?”   
“… I did. My role is to keep children safe. Children like you.”   
For a moment the room went silent.   
Then she giggled. “… Wow. I have no idea what to say to that. Your sensors must be faulty that they confuse ME for a child!”   
“Confuse you? You must be the confused one.” The Marionette paused. “You cannot believe that you are truly a machine. A machine has no father.”   
“Well, I do. Because I am a perfect machine, a sentient one. I can love. So I deserve my own family.”   
“Deserve? … Maybe. Yes, but you used to have a family. You cannot have deluded yourself to this degree… can you truly not remember?”   
“Remember what?” Unhappy and slightly mad she stayed put, but tensed up. “Your cryptic speech impresses nobody.”   
“What about my speech even ATTEMPTS to be cryptic here?” Slightly insulted the Marionette paused. “You had a real family. Not two lunatics and a bunch of other trapped children. You used…”  
“What makes you think that?” Her voice was distant.   
“… You have a soul… you were alive. What is your name? At least that you must remember.”   
“What is yours?” Expectantly she stared up at him, her green eyes burning into him.   
“…” How do you respond to that? “… I am beyond human. I have come to save you. All of you. This is what I am. But for me to do that, I need your name. I need your memories. You have to allow me to save you.”   
“Save me from what?!” She was on the verge of snapping at him.   
“Please, child. You are being tricked and used. He HURT you. He hurt you and took it all away from you. Your real family. Your real friends. He took control of your mind and personality and turned you into a doll.”   
“Maybe I wanted to be a doll.” A hint of stubbornness was in her voice.   
“… Implying that you had an option. Which means you ARE aware of being something else before this!”   
Caught in her lying, she was taking aback, at least having the decency to feel ashamed. “I meant- in general. In a sense of “you control your own fate” type of meaning… you are quite hypocritical! Refusing to share with me your name…”   
“Can you blame me? You call a murderer your father. MY murderer.”   
“What would your name make for a difference?”   
“… for me it would make one, for my pride.”   
“Pride is the devil´s most foolish sin!” It was something she once heard and was very impressed.   
“I am NOT-“ Breaking off the Puppet shook himself. “… you understand you are not a robot. Which means you know you have been taken away. You know he HURT you.”   
“He- it only hurt for a moment… and I did not die..”  
“WHAT-“ Don´t scream. “What do you mean with that, child? You are as dead as can be.”   
“I am still here.”   
“You lost everything that made you you. You even lost your mind, seeing how willingly you go along with this.” It was hard to not go too harsh on her, but the Puppet tried his best to stay slow and comforting. “You must see reality. They hurt you. They will hurt many others just like you.”  
“… they… they did NOT hurt me. They helped me. You don´t understand, not in the slightest. Have you nothing better to do then harping on my family?! You have no right to bother me and the family I have. You are JEALOUS and I will not allow your jealousy to ruin my happy situation.”   
“Jealousy? Why would you presume I am jealous of your depress- of being-“ How do you frame it without antagonizing the guy and as such the girl even further? This was more or less a first time- usually even the children had enough common sense in themselves to FEAR and HATE the person that took everything away from them. “Child. You have to think about this. Whatever good you may think they have done for you… they have hurt many other just like you. Many, MANY others. This is not excusable. This is not something you can ignore. You understand?”   
“I don´t ignore it. Stop calling me a child!” Her words were sharp and cold. “I have no more interest in continuing this talk.”  
“Please- Understand!” The Marionette pleaded. “They will not stop. They will NEVER stop. If you do not HELP us, SAVE yourself, then… they will take more and more until someone does.”   
“I will be careful.” Almost snarky she responded. Then she stood up and simply left, apparently having finally grasped that Marion wasn´t taking care of her. “… and I will warn the others too.”   
Warn them of the bothersome animatronic trying to ruin their family.   
Watching after her, Marion quietly decided to talk with at least Ballora about this. She and Baby were the more reasonable animatronics, if he could convince neither of them, then… whatever Dave did to them was…   
… who would have known that Dave of all people would be the one to break the children´s spirits? Maybe in a way he was worse than Henry.   
Henry never cared about how the Spirits felt. Only that they were there and available.   
… one day Henry would have done it too.   
He was certain of it.   
But it didn´t matter, it HAPPENED.   
It happened and it was catastrophically.   
With a small sigh the creature hoped that at least Jeremy´s day was going better.   
Technically it was.   
At least Mike wasn´t about to fuck off at any given time.   
But he still wasn´t very happy.   
As soon as they arrived they realized that Mike was pretty much the antithesis to fun and enjoyment.   
They had started out by trying to find some common ground, yet Mike had been constantly apathetic to whatever Jerry proposed.   
So, frustrated, but vowing not to show it, he showed him the anime he was currently watching.  
Bad idea.   
“That makes NO FUCKING SENSE. THEY´RE IN FUCKING SPACE. HOW CAN THEY FUCKING TALK?”   
“It´s called fiction, Mikey.”   
“Don´t you fucking call me that.”   
They were in front of the TV, in some sort of make-shift pillow fort. The only thing Mike could show even the HINT of enthusiasm for.   
The cuddly nature of the pillows was a nice contrast to Mike´s hard nature and the only thing giving Jerry comfort.   
“It´s not fucking fiction if it doesn´t make sense. Not making sense isn’t excuse for fuck´s sake! YOU GOTTA HAVE RULES! YOU GOTTA ESTABLISH AN UNIVERSE THAT MAKES SENSE!”   
“No- mean parts of it has to make sense I agree, but… there is supposed to be a stretch of imagination!”   
“FUCK that! AND HOW THEY ACT DOESN´T MAKE SENSE! LIKE- DIDN´T HE JUST SAY SHE WAS INVALUABLE TO THE TEAM? YET THEY PLAY RIGHT THE NEXT EPISODE FULLY WITHOUT HER! WHAT IS THAT FOR BULLSHIT! ESPECIALLY SINCE HE IS THE ONE WHO SHOULD GET FUCKED OVER ALL DAY, SINCE HE IS NOTHING BUT A MEASLY PROTOTYPE!”   
“He- he isn´t REALLY- I mean- that would be a spoiler, but he is actually- ah, how do I-“   
“WHO CARES ABOUT FUCKING SPOILERS! PLOTTWISTS DON´T MAKE SHOW FUCKING BETTER! IT´S JUST A FUCKING CHEAP SHOT!”   
“No it isn´t!” Insulted Jerry whined. “Plottwists mean a LOT! They can give the WHOLE story a new dimension!”   
“Yes, to the FUCKING already existing story! Not to MAKE a fucking story!”   
“All you did was nitpick! You can´t really find anything wrong with it, can you?”   
“Yeah, that it makes me want to fucking kill myself. Why does everybody talk so autistic?!”   
“MIKE!” Slightly angry he shook his head. “Fine then! If you don´t like this show, I will put something else on!”   
“Thank FUCK-“   
“FREDBEAR AND FRIENDS!” Happy again he swooped the show out of seemingly nowhere and went to the TV.   
Completely serious Mike signed to the door. “If you put THAT hellshow on, I will leave through that door.”   
The kid rose to his full height, which was pitiably short. “Then I will have to lock that door!”   
“WHAT THE LIVING FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Really. Mike wanted to KNOW.   
“I JUST WANT YOUR BEST!” Flailing his arms he teared up.   
“WHO THE LIVING FUCK RAISED YOU TO BE SO FUCKING SCREWED IN THE HEAD THAT YOU CAN THINK THAT WOULD BE FOR THE FUCKING BEST?” Screaming he stared him down. “THAT´S FUCKING PSYCHOTIC!”   
“HOW WILL YOU EVER KNOW WHAT YOU TRULY WANT AND NEED IF YOU ALWAYS REFUSE ALL THE NICE THINGS!” Now the poor boy was fully hysteric. “SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO USE TOUGH LOVE!”   
“DID YOUR DAD SAY THAT TO YOU WHEN HE FUCKING BEAT YOU?”   
For a moment it went silent.   
They just stared at each other.   
“M-my dad never beat me.” A bit of stubbornness was in his voice.   
Refusing to feel bad Mike growled, but a good bit of his anger had disappeared. “I don´t want to   
watch some stupid cartoon.”   
“Okay, what then? Work with me here!” Pleading the kid looked at his coworker.   
Unmotivated he looked over the things in the room with him, before picking a few things up and checking them. All he could see was stupid shows and Anime, making him regret even HOPING for something decent.   
What he did spot was some sort of game console. “You have Mario Kart or something?”   
“Finally!” Happy the kid exclaimed and jumped up to run off, coming back with some version of the game. “So you like the game too?! Oh, are you good?”   
“I haven´t touched that fucking shit in ten years or so, I fucking doubt it.” Sitting down with the Jerry again, the both got a controller- Mike simply snatched the Player One controller, facilitating his place in hell- and began playing. Without question he picked picked his character and instantly went to rainbow road.   
Quietly Jerry groaned, but tried to smile. “That´s one of the prettiest!”   
“Don´t fuck with me, I remember how shitty this fucking place was. EVERYBODY hated it.” A small grin was on his face as he noted Jeremy´s mostly hidden frustration.   
“Oh well… it is… challenging…? Challenge is… fun…?” He sounded rather uncertain.   
“Oh yeah, it´s gonna be fucking CHALLENGING for you, alright?”   
Despite his grin being pretty damn evil, it was still a smile and it easily infected Jeremy. “Welp, be careful! You may have bit off more than you can chew! You´ll be angry too!”   
They played for a while, but they were both shit, so they were always behind all the NPCs. Which of course was frustrating. After all, especially Mike wanted to damn well beat the boy this boy and suck all his hopes and dreams out of him. Fucking loser enjoying things.   
But for that they had to switch the course, no matter how much he hoped otherwise.   
Fine, the lack of constant falling down would be made up with Jerry´s tears when he lost would satisfy him.   
Sadly, that wasn´t what happened.   
Instead, now that the road itself wasn´t trying to kill them, it was only Mike who struggled staying on the lane.   
With every round his frustration grew. “What the FUCK!? WHAT THE LIVING FUCK! THE GAME GLITCHED! THIS ISN´T SUPPOSED TO BE FUCKING LIKE THIS!”   
RNG wasn´t in his favor either. “A FUCKING BANANA? AGAIN? WHAT THE LIVING FUCK! ARE YOU TRYING TO SHOVE A FUCKING METAL BAR UP MY ASS?”   
It was… a bit tiring to Jerry, who really only wanted him to enjoy himself. He flung himself off on purpose a few time, but sadly Mike was too smart and got even more enraged. “ARE YOU FUCKING PITYING ME?!”   
For a moment Jerry considered lying, but… that would be bad, wouldn´t it?  
Bad behavior. Lying is a slippery slope. “… kinda? It´s hard not to! You are so angry and impatient, you seem to be suffering all the time… that anger can´t be healthy!”   
Slowly Mike leaned closer and stared at him, unblinking. “Listen, you FUCK. I will shove this controller so far up your ass that you can fucking CHOKE on it. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU FUCKING ARE!? WHY DO YOU THINK I FUCKING CARE ABOUT WHAT THE FUCK THE END RESULT IS OF THIS SHITTY GAME!? I DON´T!”   
There was something… threatening about him. Now, Usually that wouldn´t in any way impress the young boy, since he had the self-preservation need of a dead leaf, but this time he couldn´t help but feel… intimidated.   
Mike made no sign of stopping though, despite his co-worker obviously getting scared. “I CAN AND WILL BREAK YOUR FUCKING SKULL, YOU´RE SUCH A PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT, WHY ARE YOU SO ARROGANT AND FUCKING CUNTY!? I NEVER WANTED TO FUCKING BE IN HERE IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE-“   
He was close to crying and hiding his face.   
It took until that for Mike to stop.   
Looking at the kid, mildly shocked about how far this went. What he said was the truth, he didn´t really care about the actual outcome of this stupid game. So why was he so worked up?   
This was stupid.   
Really stupid.   
The boy was just that. A boy. A boy that wanted to spend time with him, despite all the shit he did.   
God, he was a piece of shit, wasn´t he?  
His head felt like it was going to burst.   
“… Sorry. I´ll just… fucking…” With that he sighed. “… sorry. Gotta take my pills.”   
“… i-it´s… okay. I´m- I know you don´t mean it.” Tired Jerry rubbed his face.   
“That´s no fucking excuse you idiot.” Growling he took out the small bottle. Worried the other Guard´s invisible eyes were lying on him.   
“Hey Mike… have you ever… tried something else to calm down? If it´s only… anger… maybe you shouldn´t rely on pills?”   
“Are you fucking-“   
“Listen to me- I don´t- I don´t mean to say- I didn´t say it´s not- I just wanted to ask if you ever tried something else before you fall back on pills… there are some really good breathing tactics, some I use myself!”   
“Oh. So you´re JUST saying I should rely on some BREATHING to fight with my intense urge to fucking strangle all the fucking people in the FUCKING room, instead of relying on the FUCKING MEDICINE WHICH FUCKING WAS MADE TO BALANCE OUT MY LITERALLY MESSED UP BRAIN?!”   
“FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MIKE, YOU NEVER SEARCH FOR ANY OPTIONS, DO YOU!?” For once he sounded actually MAD. “I KNOW. I KNOW. IT DOES SOUND STUPID. BUT IT IS AN OPTION. YOU ALWAYS COMPLAIN ABOUT A SITUATION, BUT AS SOON AS SOMEONE EVEN HINTS AT OPTIONS, YOU SCREAM AND FIGHT AS IF WE´RE TRYING TO HURT YOU! SOMETIMES YOU LOOK LIKE YOU LIKE BEING MISERABLE!”   
Again a pause ensued.   
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Mike looked him up and down and noticed how he was seemingly breathing controlled. Uncertain he kept watching and then coughed awkwardly. “So. How would I do that fucking breathing thing?”   
“…” Jerry didn´t move, but at some point he answered. “… you need to count. And concentrate on your chest and stomach. Like… like this.”   
A while passed where they tried it. Then finally Mike gave up and swallowed a pill. “This is fucking stupid.”  
“… at least you tried it…!” There was an attempt to smile, but still he appeared drained. The frown returned and he sighed. “I´m… I´m sorry. I shouldn´t have… been mean to you. You´re right, you… you lived with this. You know best.”   
“If I knew best I´d probably fucking murder myself.”   
“That´s not best! That is never best!” Unhappy Jerry winced.   
“You’re oddly touchy today.” It was meant as a question, but veiled as a fact.   
“… You´re right. I know you, I should be used to this by now.” Anxiously he fiddled with his fingers. “… lately it´s… I… Mike. I can´t find their names.”   
Confused the Guard frowned. But… somewhat he could understand. “… their names?”   
“The… classics. You know. You KNOW. They were burned… but did anybody ever say goodbye to them?” Melancholy crept into his voice. “It feels wrong.”   
“… they weren´t completely burned, weren´t they?” Growing a bit cold, Mike shifted around, thinking back of the night he walked out and checked on the restaurant. Thinking back, it had been a ridiculous thing. He should have swallowed some pills and went back to sleep. Then again, it wasn´t as if he was supposed to stand up early anyways, there was no place to go to work to.   
But it had been unsettling. Going out in the early morning hours, fog thinly veiling the air, all too subtly taking away sight… and then being met with the empty patches in the ash…   
When he returned he thought for hours, lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.   
Of course the animatronics weren´t- they didn´t just up and walked off. That was stupid.   
No, the LOGICAL answer was that the factory- Afton Robotics or whatever- came by in the middle of the night and picked the remains up, to make sure nobody would find them and wonder why they were ready and able to fucking MURDER people! Or, provided they COULD still move, which in itself wasn´t too unlikely, to make sure they aren´t causing more harm to the place. Right? How could four angry murder bots-  
… they haven´t been all that angry. They mostly seemed sad and confused.  
A sting of guilt rushed through him. “... they… I think the people who make the machines came to pick them up…?”   
“You think?” A bit of hope returned to the boy and his whole face lit up noticeably. “That would be… nice! But then I need to find them again!”   
“We will. You just… keep doing whatever the fuck you´re doing.” Irritated he leaned back. “Actually, what the FUCK ARE you doing?”   
“Like I said, I´m trying to find everyone´s names so I can say properly goodbye to them! I thought about attaching the names to balloons and letting them fly off and be free!”   
Well, if that wouldn´t be a fucking littering event.   
But you can´t really say that to someone who wants to get over dying people. “Did the Puppet tell you to do that?”   
“… uh… kinda…?” Jerry shrugged. “If I remember correctly then… we tried to find them to set them fully free, but he said they weren´t… invaluable… but after they burned, I just… it didn´t feel right not to know their names.”   
Raising an eyebrow Mike looked at him. “A bit obsessed?”   
Yet, deep down, he understood what Jerry meant.   
Quietly he thought back of the nights they had spent together after they decided to stop with their Guard hunting.   
He hadn´t appreciated it enough, now that he looked back on it.   
They had seemed…   
… lonely.   
“Hey, Jeremy?”   
“Hm?”   
“What… what do you have until now? Any theory which the names could be?”   
Surprised the boy shot him a look, then he smiled. “… I have three groups of children that it COULD be. But I want to be sure. Because… if the group of children already moved on, calling forth to them for no reason could upset them!”   
They moved towards the computer and while Jerry booted it up, Mike was having another thought. “Jeremy?”   
“Yes?”   
“You´re awfully nonchalant about the fact that so many groups of children died at this place.”   
“…” Pausing Jeremy turned to Mike fully, his voice oddly serious. “You think I´m nonchalant about this?”   
“You still seem to like the place.”   
“Because I do!” Taking a deep breath Jerry sat up. “The murders weren´t Freddy´s fault.”   
“So… stuffing children into suits is just something that could happen EVERYWHERE.”   
“No. But whoever did it, whatever drove him… do you really think that if Freddy´s would close down, they would stop? They will find another place, more victims. Freddy´s is… Freddy´s is not evil. It´s haunted. By ghosts and people. Ending Freddy´s… it would… just simply take away from so many childhoods. The killing would continue, if you don´t get to the root of the problem. But… the world would be an even darker place. With even less joy. Where do you go for your happiest day? When you… want to be somewhere else…? We can´t have them, whoever it is, kill the full concept of this. We have to catch them and send them to jail and show them that despite everything- it can still… life comes up on top. Life and happiness aren´t killable.”   
“You´re such a fucking weirdo.”   
“I know!” The computer was up and running and Jerry smiled and signed at the screen and at some documents he had pulled up. “Now… here! This the time frame it probably happened in, seeing as the puppet WAS at the place it happened and the Puppet didn´t come around THAT much…”   
For the rest of the day they were sitting in front of the computer, discussing the different possibilities.   
Later that day, as Mike returned home, he got a call.   
“H-Hello? Hello, Hello! H-hey Mike! So, uh… h-how did it go? Are you alright? Uh… did you… get along…?”   
“He is dead and I´m coming for you next.” Dryly he replied back, looking around his empty apartment.   
Obviously it wasn´t going over well with Simon. “N-not funny! Those are not matters to be joked about!”   
“I know, that´s why I don´t.”   
“MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE-!”   
A soft chuckle somehow escaped the man, who was surprised himself about it. “The kid is fine. You know him, you punch him down nine fucking times, ends up with him standing up ten.”   
“Y-you, uh… but you didn´t literally, uh…”   
“Fucking THANK YOU. Nice to know what you ACTUALLY think of me!”   
Simon´s voice sounded embarrassed now. “N-NO! That´s uh- that´s not what I meant. I meant, you didn´t uh- literally belittled him NINE times, did you?”   
“No, no, I just… okay, I was a bit TOO rough to him, even by my standards. But it ended up alright, some-fucking-how.”   
“Did you, uh… have fun? What did you guys do?”   
“None of your business DAD, I can take care of myself.” Even if he knew Simon wouldn´t be able to see it, he rolled his eyes.   
Insulted the Phone Guy huffed. “I- I was only curious!”   
“We talked a bit about… the animatronics. I gotta ask you, did the factory come by to pick whatever was left of them up?”   
“… uh… no? There wasn´t really anything left from what I´ve seen… uh… so I didn´t bother calling.”   
“… when did you check?”   
“R-right the next morning! But, uh- the firemen didn´t mention anything either, so I thought- Mike, WHY are you asking…?” Real fear crept into the man.   
“… for shits and fucking giggles, why else?” Oh fucking shit. Better not stress him unnecessarily. Not for now. “Like I said, we wondered what could have happened.”   
“Oh. Uh, yes. Burnt to crisps it seems. The animatronics were always a bit sensitive to fire.”   
“Great, I´ll tell him that when we see him tomorrow.” Casually he started to unbutton his shirt, getting ready for a good night´s sleep. “Everybody at the place behaving? Is the place still standing?”  
“Uh- you know. Nothing major happened. Pretty normal day… for a Freddy´s. A doggo somehow found his way in and uh- we had to spend all day trying to catch it.”   
“Hm… sounds like a fucking joyful day over there. I would have shot him with the equipment we have in the back.”   
“Thought about it, but I think it would have brought the wrath of at least three evil creatures upon me… h-haha…”   
“You have nightshift?”   
“Yes… we don´t really… uh, to be honest, I don´t TRUST Dave and Old Sport alone at the place. They stick a little too closely together for my liking lately.”   
“I think you´re being fucking paranoid… but better paranoid than death, right? I´ll be off to sleep now, don´t get hurt while doing your shift.”   
“O-oops, shouldn´t have kept you awake for so long, I uh…”   
“We talked for at most three minutes.”   
“Y-yes, but…”   
“Do you want me to stay on the fucking phone?”   
“N-no! I´m not THAT- I mean- you know, you can-“   
“Might as well. But I can´t answer for a moment, because I need to brush my teeth.”   
Phone Guy stayed quiet for a few second, then he snorted a bit. “I´m… a real weirdo, aren´t I? Uh- s-so you´re- I´ll assume you pulled yourself together in front of J-Jeremy?”   
“… tried. Failed. But again. The kidden is unstoppably stupid. I guess he didn´t… he doesn´t even fucking register that I was really fucking evil to him.”   
“… did you at least say sorry?”   
Mind foggy, Mike fell back onto the mattress. “I think?”   
It had been JUST this day, how could he already forget?   
Sometimes he had the fear that his pills fucked up his memories.   
But maybe that was his sickness instead.   
“… uh… good enough, I guess.”   
They talked for a while about nothing in particular, until Phoney said goodbye at midnight.   
Exhausted Mike closed his eyes.   
And yet again, they promised him another day.


	36. Trick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boys and girls of every age!  
> Wouldn´t you like to see something strange?  
> Come with us and you will see...  
> ... this, our town of Halloween!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BECAUSE QUALITY OVER QUANTITY! 
> 
> Surprise, surprise a Halloween chapter!  
> Oof, I tried to write atmospheric... I apologize.  
> IT GOT  
> BETA´D  
> THANK YOU.

It was a beautiful October morning. The sun wasn´t yet up, but already red streaks in the sky, mixing up with the last stars that were glowing and slowly vanishing in the approaching day.  
It was Halloween again and Jerry couldn´t decide on a costume. Partially he wanted to be a robot, but… that would be insensitive to Mr. Phone Guy? So instead he picked the good old classic ghost. A shitton of white make-up and flour, but otherwise it was really simple.  
Motivated he wanted to open the door, but then was tackled to the side. “DON´T JUST FUCKING ENTER YOU IDIOT!”  
Shocked the kid yelped as he went down, only recognizing that it was Mike by voice. And well, word choice. “W-W-WHA?!”  
“Don´t you fucking “wha” at me, you piece of shit. I just saved your motherfucking life.”  
“But- what-?” Confused Jerry looked at him, seeing that he was armed with the heavy flashlight, his bat and war paint. There seemed to be other weapons on his belt, like a crowbar and a wrench, but Jerry couldn´t recognize it all. “A-Ah- nice… costume…?”  
“This isn´t a fucking costume, this is survival gear. Last year´s Halloween will NOT FUCKING REPEAT.”  
“Huh?” This was growing weirder and weirder.  
“I will fucking murder Dave.” He stood up and dusted himself off, before kicking open the door and throwing himself to the side, in case something would be shooting out of it. Surprisingly nothing was attempting to murder him.  
Didn´t ease his mind though.  
If anything, it made him more suspicious.  
Slowly Mike peered into the building, it turned out to be… lit. Everything was visible as it usually was. In the distance he could spot Circus Baby wearing a witch hat and some darker clothes. But maybe that was planned as distraction.  
Extremely careful he looked around the other sides. The rest of the gang wasn´t anywhere to be seen. Were they in their usual parts of the building or HIDING?  
A bit snickering Jerry shook his head. “You can´t scare me this easily!”  
The Marionette also poked his head out of the bag. “Why are you so fearful?”  
“D A V E .”  
“Fair enough.” A bit torn the Puppet considered coming out of the bag, but decided to stay put.  
The team crept inside, looking around.  
Nope.  
All good.  
Somebody has hung up decoration, most likely either the animatronics or Dave and Old Sport- though if it had been either of them, some of it would blow up sooner rather than later.  
Wait and see.  
They made it around the dining area just fine, Baby only raising her arm friendly as a greeting, before continuing to focus on her own stuff. Keeping his flashlight up anyways in a pose that show he was ready to HURT everything attempting to spook him.  
Lucky for them- or him, nothing was.  
The only thing that came towards him was Dave and he was being obvious as he rushed through the place, jumping over the tables and chairs.  
The Purple Guy was wearing a proper suit and smiling widely.  
Darn, he looked really weirdly official, even having a purple tie and a thin booklet in the pocket on his chest.  
Finally Mike gave up to decipher it. “The fuck ARE you?”  
“Oh? Me? I´m the devil´s advocate!” Loud the guy laughed. “Sportsy had that idea! Ain´t he the smartest?! We´ve searched around for ages to find the right guy to steal suit and tie from, but it´s worth it! Fuckin´ lawyers, they´re the biggest yuk ya can meet at ANY time of the year, so fuck yeah, it´s a good costume for Halloween.”  
“Did you… ever meet a lawyer? Were you to fucking court?!” The thought horrified the Guard.  
“Sure I´ve been! Plenty of times! Somehow those people were really fuckin´ horny for our business! Anyways, I ain´t only a lawyer, I also have unholy stuff on me! BEHOLD!” He pulled out the booklet. “It´s the bibble! Because it´s joke on the bible, that makes it satanic, right?!!”  
“That´s…” Jerry looked concerned. “That´s not how it works…”  
“Oh? Anyways, now it gotta make do. There´d be worse.” Shrugging Dave turned again. “Flickerin´ lights! Creepy noises! Minireenas!”  
On cue they scattered from everywhere.  
Someone added legs to them.  
Spiderreenas.  
Why did this happen.  
Who made this.  
Mike stared at them. “I hate you.”  
“It´s Halloween, cheer up!” Grinning widely Dave jumped around. “Today will be fuckin´ fun! I can´t wait!”  
“I will keep an eye on you fucking bastard today.”  
“Ya doin´ that every day! I told ya already, I´m loyal to my sport!” He grinned and ran off, as Mike was tempted to hunt after him and punch him over the head with a chair. But he decided against that and instead rather kneeled down next to Jerry who had taken to look closer at the Spiderreenas, brave, even when the disgust was somewhat obvious on his lackluster face.  
“U-uh… aren´t you… creative…?” At this point Mike had to admire the boy´s dedication to spill vaguely positive nonsense. The small creatures seemed appreciative though and began jumping up and down, making it all look even worse. Holy shit.  
Yeah, no, better not look at it for too long.  
Instead he stood up, looking around.  
If the eggplant was here, his friend was here too.  
As well as Simon, most likely.  
Hopefully.  
As he moved around he saw Funtime Foxy peering in, grinning smugly, blood dripping from his snout.  
It was a split second between eyes, brain and processing that his guts sank as he was going through the schedule to who had the nightshift and could have been the only victim of the animatronic- it was a no-brainer, really, there COULD only be one guy that could have been-  
And while his brain was still deactivated and his legs were already tensing up to rush forward and break its horrible face, something stepped up behind the fox, something taking another thirty seconds to process and thirty seconds were than enough to rush over and-  
“O-OH HECK- M-Mike! Don´t give me such a scare!” Phone Guy, equally covered in the red liquid.  
Shit, now Mike had to reconsider IF that stuff was actually blood. Stopping at the last second, he stared down the man he had thought to be dead for sure. “… costume?”  
“U-Uh… h-haha, now that you, uh…” He put his hand into his pocket in an awkward gesture. “Please, uh… don´t… hassle me for it… for this Halloween there is, uh… not costume mandatory… uhhh…”  
“You´re an asshole.” Mike slowly felt himself slowly calm down, before he eyed the smeared stains. “The fuck did you do.”  
“Fake blood for Foxy… uh… I wanted to make him a turned werewolf, but uh…” They looked over at the messy looking fox and while it seemed scary at first, at the second glance it just looked like it was cheap tomato sauce. “… isn´t him being a creepy animatronic already enough?”  
There was some desperate hope in his voice, while the other Guard just shook his head. Better keep quiet after it fooled him.  
Uncomfortable with the silence, the Phone brushed off some invisible dust. “U-uh… anyways. Doesn´t matter that much, seeing as we, uh… don´t do a big event. But, uh- could you do me a favor and uh… search for the Orange Guy? We, uh… probably are going to need him around today… lots of people will show up. Nemo called in sick- or rather, uh, told me he caught… uh… something. Then he told me he just didn´t uh… didn´t give a flying heck. Yeah, uh- a-anyways. So, every employee counts right now.”  
“I just have to fucking find him, right? No reason to try and convince me so badly. It makes you suspicious as fuck.” The Guard scoffed.  
“S-sorry, I´m just used to working with… THEM again... they barely do, uh… anything without a good bit of pleading.”  
“I´ll send him to you when I see him.” Turning around, Mike felt tired from the first five minutes of the day. Typical Freddy´s.  
A bit lost he stood around in the main hall. Where do you search for an employee in here?  
Somewhat wary he approached the stage, where the animatronic resided and played around with her body plates, as if she was seeing her arms for the first time. When he was close enough, she stopped and looked at him, her faceplaces shortly opening, her eyes flickering.  
But her voice was friendly. “Hello, Mikey.”  
“Call me that again and I will rip off each of your fucking plates individually. Did you see the Orange fuck?”  
“… I think he went over there.” Peacefully she signed into a corridor going off the right door. Since it was towards Ballora´s residence, Mike wasn´t too suspicious. If she wanted him in trouble, she would have pointed towards Freddy´s Funhouse.  
A tad annoyed he walked by to check in, but except Ballora there was nobody in there.  
At first he didn´t want to approach the ballerina, she seemed a bit too focus on her dancing and her eyelids fluttered nervously as if she was caught in some sort of bad dream, but when he finally dared to get closer, his heavy flashlight in hand and ready to swing, she only told him she hadn´t heard anyone entering… and she could hear quite well.  
Great.  
So he wasn´t here.  
Groaning Mike accepted he would have to search the whole building the next hour… where to start though?  
… the saferoom.  
And if he wasn´t there, there was a high chance he could catch him on the cameras.  
But IF somebody wanted to disappear, they usually disappeared into the saferoom.  
A lot of things disappeared in the saferoom.  
Mainly because Dave stole and ate it, that greedy bastard.  
He had entered the saferoom with a sigh, looking at the suits. Since he had his last… event… he hadn´t really wanted to deal with this place in general.  
But it WAS the calmest place in the whole building.  
Sadly, no Orange Man doing… whatever Orange Men tended to do in saferooms.  
Instead, a boy was standing in there, trying to fix a purple bowtie. He was small and looked... oddly familiar. Yet Mike could swear he never had seen him before. “D-damn…”  
For a solid minute Mike stared. The place wasn´t opening for another fucking hour. “What the fuck. How could-“  
“Sorry!” The kid jumped around, laughing nervously. “I- got overly excited and… came early...”  
They stared at each other for a moment, before the kid clenched his fist and coughed. “… no, you are right, I-“  
“Nope.” Mike turned around and swallowed three pills at once. “Nope, nah, thank you. Not this time, was fucking enough last year. If I see that Pink fuck today, I´d shove a shotgun down my throat.”  
“Mike, you don´t understand, we have to-“  
“I am NOT listening.” With that the Guard returned to the main area.  
When he looked back, nobody was there.  
HA. KNEW IT.  
And even better! The boy had disappeared and the Orange Guy had showed up!  
He was already talking to Simon, so… job done!  
With a relieved sigh he turned around to find himself an activity he could handle today.  
Meanwhile, Old Sport had gotten the same lecture and plea the Guard before him had gotten, with the added bonus of that it was “highly encouraged to wear a suit today”.  
Probably just so the Phone could Springtrap him in case of trouble.  
Fucking asshole.  
But oh well. Old Sport wasn´t too aggressive, mainly because he was a tad nostalgic at the moment. Around this time he finally managed to figure out where the hell Dave was and take course to the city!  
Good times.  
Almost one year back with… huh.  
Nothing has changed, really, has it-  
…  
… well, he now KNEW a bit more.  
But... that didn´t mean change.  
He shook his head.  
Not today.  
Thankfully that was when Dave finally spotted him standing there all alone and harmless. Something he clearly intended on changing.  
“Old Sport!” Happily he skipped towards him, picking him up in a sudden spur of emotions, resulting in a chuckle from the other guy. This was the third time he had done this today. “HALLOWEEN!”  
Yup, also the third time. “You´re might excited for only having put up a few decorations!”  
“Ah, shush it! It ain´t the only thing planned to do for today!” His eyes twinkled. “Our plan for today will be DRASTIC Old Sport. CHANGING. We´re going on a little trip and mix this place up again!”  
“Big promise. What´s the plan?”  
“Ah, we first gotta wait ´til it´s dark! Gotta get over the day with NORMAL spooks! Ya know. Stuff kids into lockers, shoot them with hot cheese. Casual stuff!”  
“Or we do a time skip.”  
“What?”  
“You know, search the main area for six hours straight?”  
“… why would we do that? That´d be borin´ as shit!”  
You know you have a problem when DAVE looks at you like you´re insane.  
Not that he was wrong… “Fine, fine. I´ll get the suit!”  
“I´ll get the REAL goo!”  
“… what is the REAL goo and where is the difference to fake goo?”  
“Fake goo ain´t got the good radiation! Cheap bastards!”  
“Ah. I get it.”  
“It glows in the dark!”  
“WHAT, REALLY!?”  
NOW HE WAS SOLD.  
And so, they spend the day testing out how much goo they could make the kids swallow by turning it into a competition.  
Turns out, not too much, sadly.  
At the end of the day Dave could almost not stand still for longer than three seconds and as soon as the clock rang, he signed Old Sport to follow, which the man happily did.  
“So. What´s the plan?” Excited Old Sport tagged along. Dave had seemed especially aggravated today and anticipating his own plan, so it must be something good.  
“Hey, Sportsy, did ya ever see Phoney´s home?” Satisfied he watched his friend´s eyes glowing a bit brighter all of a sudden as he mentioned going out to find the place.  
“You know where he lives?!”  
“Of course I do!” He laughed. “I ALWAYS check where the people are livin´! Ya know, just in case. How do ya think I found out where you live?”  
“Fair enough.” Curious he eyed the bag Dave was carrying around with him… but he expected to have to wait a long time to get answers to what this was.  
“The guy lives off in the forest. Shitty place, lemme tell ya. I think the factory stuffs their Phoneys into the most haunted place in vicinity… probably to get ´em used to the supernatural shit. Or to make ´em more likely to stay in for as long as they can.” They rushed towards Dave´s car and sat down, the Purple Guy keeping on talking a barely paying any attention to the surroundings. “But that´s good for us.” Again he paused, his grin slowly growing wide. “Ya know, I really feel like it´s time for a new Phoney…”  
It took a moment until it set in what that meant.  
“You want… to kill Phone Guy tonight?!” Slightly shocked Old Sport tilted his head. That he hadn´t expected. “Did he do something?”  
“Nah, not really…” Shortly the man considered admitting that he just disliked how comfortable Phoney looked around his lovely Sport, yet decided against it. For no real reason, no. Old Sport WOULD understand. Better not push it though. “…but ya know, we had that one for quite some time… time for somethin´ new! Not to mention, seein´ how he acts, I´m pretty sure he´ll get in trouble with the factory sooner or later… and ya can probably guess… the factory and higher ups ain´t big fans of me. So if we get rid of this one, we´ll be good for another while. It´s been a year, they gotta check up on the Phone otherwise.”  
Quietly the Orange Guy let those news sink in. Wow. He hadn´t expected that.  
Then again, he probably should, Dave had never been fond of a Phone Guy.  
For a moment Dave glanced at him, his voice sharp. “… you aren´t gettin´ emotional over a damn Phone, are ya?”  
“What? Me? No!” Frowning the man leaned against the cold window, watching the passing lights. If he was being honest he really wasn´t getting too emotional. If it came down to it, he didn´t care too much. Again he eyed the bag. “What exactly are you planning?”  
As expected Dave only snickered. “You´ll see Old Sport. But I´ll promise, you´ll be getting your fair share of fun! All in due time!”  
“You´re awfully comfortable with telling others to wait while being so damn impatient yourself.” With a raised eyebrow he considered to just get the bag, but then decided against it.  
“Yeah, I truly am a sack of ratshit, ain´t it?”  
They arrived at the outskirts of a dark forest- not too claustrophobic, but in the darkness it was rather uncomfortable to look at. Without any hesitation though Dave jumped out of the car and rummaged around in his bag, throwing a flashlight at his partner. “I took away a lot of the power, so it ain´t gonna give us away.”  
“I feel not really save without a truly functioning flashlight. Old Nightguard instinct I think.”  
“We have a functioning one, don´t cha worry, but for walkin´ around we only use that, alright?” Happy as can be he walked towards the trees, fully trusting that the orange guy would light the way, resulting in him promptly crashing down. Old Sport strolled past him, looking around.  
The flashlight barely lit up the few feet in front of them and all in all it was incredibly useless.  
Typical for Freddy´s though.  
The shadows around them moved slowly, their footsteps crunching dead leaves under them, the only sound coming from the place. Otherwise it was dead silent.  
The wind only made distant noise and it was rare that a breeze brushed by, rare enough to make Old Sport check if it wasn´t actually another being walking alongside them. Yes, actually he felt terribly watched inside of this forest.  
“Dave?” In a weird way he hoped for comfort from his partner, which he promptly received in form of his typical worry-free voice.  
“Old Sport! Lookin´ awfully nervous over there! Scared the Phone´s waitin´ for ya in the bushes?” He laughed, skipping by his side, looking around. Then he picked up a stone and threw it in the nearest moving bush, resulting in… nothing. It simply crashed through the twigs and landed on the ground. “See? Ain´t no boogey-phone hidin´ in the forest!”  
Rolling his eyes he looked away, attempting to check between the trunks around him. “I´m not scared at a-“ A mechanical clicking sounded and the Orange Guy jumped around. “What was that?!  
Naturally, his Purple friend began snickering. “Nah, you ain´t scared, are ya? Not even a little?”  
“I just heard some clicking! Like from a machine!” Paranoid he tried to shine around.  
“Sure ya did. Don´t worry, I´ll be protectin´ ya!” Stepping closer to his partner, his glowing smile lighting up the dark.  
“What are you going to do if some weird robot jumps out at you?” He raised his eyebrow.  
“Imma WRESTLE them! Ain´t nobody scaring my orange baby!” Standing up straighter, he looked around now too, rather challenging.  
The thought of Dave rugby tackling an animatronic managed to relax Old Sport, weirdly enough. “You´ll cause a fire if you do it wrong.”  
“Or an explosion!” He laughed. “As long as we get the phone I don´t care!”  
In the distance there was giggling, making them snap up again, but neither commented. Probably just a few kids going trick or treating?  
This close to the forest?  
Suuuure.  
They went on, Old Sport still stopping every once in a while when he felt like there was some clicking, yet whenever he looked around, there didn´t seem to be anything going on.  
Thankfully they spotted the house in the distance after their short trip, its windows illuminated still, despite it being rather late.  
“But he´s still fuckin´ working in there. Welp, better for us, we get to set up!” Happy the man pulled out some barbed wire. “I gotta put it all around the house! Here, hold the one end, we gotta tie ´em together in the end!”  
With that he handed him one end and walked off.  
Leaving him alone in the dark.  
Thanks, Dave.  
At some point the wire relaxed, making Old Sport wonder why he even had to hold the one day in the first place. He tried peering through a window to find out what was going on inside, but he thought for a second that something moved in there and he didn´t want to risk anything to mess with Dave´s plans.  
So he returned into his place in the dark and hoped that Dave would hurry up already. The air was growing colder and colder and he could swear he heard steps.  
Yeah.  
Dave´s steps.  
He was right around the corner.  
Right?  
A few minutes later his glowing eyes showed up in the distance, making him sigh in relief. “Took you long enough! Get over here, I want to know your plan. And I hope for you it is a GOOD plan!”  
The other one stayed in place, still staring at him.  
“Dave. This is not funny. I slowly lose the fun with this. You promised it would be something fun, interesting and Halloween themed… I thought WE would be the ones tricking the OTHERS! I… I don´t like to be up against you, but I WILL spook you back if I have to!”  
Finally Dave fixated on him and moved a bit closer, coming to say sorry or explain what he had been thinking about.  
Or, that was what the Orange Guy thought until a hand laid on his shoulder and a familiar voice sounded. “Old Sport? Who´s your friend over there?”  
They looked at each other, then at the thing now running up to them.  
“… oh fucking hell…”  
The steps were unnaturally quiet, as the cover of leaves swallowed all sound coming from it, but they sure as shit weren´t as graceful, as they turned to run away. Dave swore something under his breath, trying to get the flashlight out of his pocket. “Where the FUCK did that came from?! I don´t have the fuckin´ rabbit head with me-“  
“YOU THINK THAT WOULD REMOTELY HELP!?” Old Sport could feel his breath burning inside of his lungs already, the sudden sprint not what he had trained for. Then again he didn´t want to wrestle that monstrosity. He hadn´t even gotten more than a glance at it in the dark, but it was already looking bad enough for him to know better than letting all his parts be ripped off and thrown around like old newspaper.  
Last time that happened he hadn´t felt the same for WEEKS.  
“Ya know, maybe you´re right? Doesn´t matte anyways, as I said, I ain´t having it! Now where´s the fuckin´ flashlight?!”  
The machine was fast and running in the uneven terrain wasn´t easy. Scarily enough the machine didn´t make noise. Not of success, not of frustration not of the hunt. Beyond the mechanical sounds there was nothing… sentient about them.  
At least not yet.  
The creature crouched and got ready to jump at them, only mere feet away, when Dave finally managed to grab ahold of the torch, despite his slippery hand and ripped it out of the bag to shine it into the animatronics face.  
For a split second the whole endoskeleton was visible.  
… and things hanging from it.  
And that was when it screamed.  
The scream was audible through the whole forest, instantly attracting all the attention of everything around.  
Especially of a certain person who had followed the odd pair into the forest before losing them.  
Ethan Cross winced at the noise, snapping around to try and locate the noise.  
It sounded like a child in agony.  
At first he had followed the two colorful people out of a hunch. They seemed weirdly excited today and it wasn´t anything he had felt comfortable watching. Not to mention, his dog had been acting up too. Just as nervous, just as tense.  
Sure, it was stupid to look to a dog for advice on how to judge a situation, but… they were known for some sort of sixth sense, right?  
Either way, if he did it right, it wouldn´t hurt watching them.  
And now he might catch them red-handed.  
Or at least save a life.  
He began rushing towards the noise, not caring about being loud. There was a kid out there and that kid was possible in huge danger-  
Stumbling and hasting through the darkness, he was certain he was closing in to whatever had caused the kid to scream, ignoring the sharp pain suddenly sting through his as he miss-stepped and fell forwards, thankfully not falling down, as he saw some sort of red light in the distance-  
And abruptly stopping.  
The scene in front of him was unreal.  
As if he accidently stepped into a completely different universe.  
The place was still as wooded as before, but somehow what he saw was making the place between the trees appear… bigger.  
A Freddy´s employee, Mike Schmidt, stood in the middle of the place, his face lit up red as he looked up with a fairly empty expression on his face, two red dots reflecting in his eyes.  
In front of him towered a broken and charred animatronic. From what he could see, it must be Bonnie, the ears were a pretty clear indicator, but otherwise it looked more like a masked skeleton thank a real animatronic. One warm was missing and barely anything but cables, neither of the legs were still completely in costume and the arms were only a barren metal cage.  
They were simply standing in front of each other, staring. Barely any noise was made, only a few, almost confused clicks came from the animatronic, as it was fixated.  
It was almost dreamlike in a way.  
“M-Mr. Schmidt?” Only quietly he dared to call out, fearing that if something disturbed the peaceful scene, it could turn bloody really soon.  
“Sh. Short for shut up.” Mike answered, his voice calm as it could be. “I am kind of fucking distracted right now…”  
“I… see…” The man stepped closer, a bit more relaxed this time.  
Bad mistake.  
As soon as he began moving, Bonnie snapped around, moving towards him with an aggressive snarl. When the human froze though, the animatronic made a frustrated noise and leaned around, trying to find him again it seems.  
Holding his breath, Ethan moved back wards very slowly, before attempting to talk again. “.. it only react to motion…?”  
“… wait, you fucking see it too?!” Turning to him in utter shock, Mike tensed up.  
For a moment, they exchanged a look, slowly the true terror setting in. “Did you hear the scream?”  
“I thought I imagined that too-“  
“There is some kid in danger around here-“  
“WE are in danger around here!” Mike hissed, watching the animatronic slowly moving around, searching.  
Yes, Ethan was scared, even deeply terrified. But… “… it´s a child. In here in the woods. With these things.”  
For now they slowly backed away, managing to distract the creature with moving in turns, more or less. At some point they were far enough away to attempting walking normally and ending up fleeing the situation.  
The red lights of the animatronic were still visible and glowing through the leaves, but quickly vanished as they walked deeper into the woods. Despite his previous complaints, Mike was now quiet and compliant.  
“There are more, aren´t there…?”  
“Motherfucking probably. There were four of these fuckers.” The head of the Guard hurt. This was too much. Something was WRONG. “… five.”  
“…” Ethan coughed. “… do they have by any chance glowing eyes?”  
“… what a great motherfucking guess.”  
“… white glowing eyes?”  
“… where the fuck is it.” Quickly Mike turned around, finally catching on.  
“Way in the back, but… I´m not sure if it comes closer.” The detective got out his gun, making Mike do a noise of ridicule.  
“That little thing won´t do shit.” Again, they turned around and Mike felt his head getting worse. “Is it... walking slowly or does it stop each time we look at it?”  
“I do not intent to find out.” They hasted a bit, hoping that it wouldn´t trigger the creatures anger.  
“Two down, three more in question-“  
Another heartbreaking scream sounded through the forest and they froze up, just to hurry even more, Mike occasionally glancing back at whatever was following them- thankfully they didn´t have to move long, because they head to voices.  
“C-CAN´T YA DO ANYTHING OLD SPORT? WASN´T HE YOUR FAVORITE?!”  
“WHAT DO YOU THINK I CAN DO? SEDUCE HIM!?”  
The two colorful guards were running towards them, stumbling as the saw the familiar faces. “What are YOU two doing here!?”  
“We could ask you the fucking same!” Mike hissed, not daring to be too loud.  
“We ain´t got time my buddos, there´s a fucking PISSED Foxy in the back!” Dave grabbed Old Sport and dragged him along, before stopping as he spotted the lights in the distance. “We´re fuckin´ surrounded, aren´t we?”  
“Surrounded?” Old Sport was confused, before he realized that indeed lights approached from the other two directions.  
Freddy was leading the charge, a low chuckle echoing through the forest. The bear was barely visible, but obviously just as broken.  
The other animatronics stayed back only by a bit.  
“Okay…” Dave seemingly grew actually nervous. “So, uh… how many Tasers do we have?”  
“Not enough.” In a way, Old Sport had already accepted his fate and now was watching from a weird outsider perspective.  
He could admire how the light was partially reflected from the broken and burnt bodies.  
He could appreciated the movement of what he had to guess were some sort of spirits, halfway attached, halfway molten into the machines.  
He could see the beauty in the small, erratic twitches the robots exhibited on random intervals.  
Weird.  
Welp, when he would wake up he´d be filled with… leaves and dirt.  
Nothing he couldn´t handle.  
He wondered about his companions though.  
He still wasn´t QUITE sure about their immortality status.  
A breeze passed by, making the hair on his body stand up.  
For a moment it stayed quiet, so quiet that it hurt in the ears, but then the robots started talking and instantly all the humans whished the silence back. It was a weirdly rumbly sound, beyond whatever the voice box should be able to produce.  
Bonnie started, its voice creaking and being almost incomprehensible as it echoed with itself. In the beginning, Old Sport didn´t even thinking it was talking at all. “E-EEE-EE_E-EENeeEEeeyYY-YY MMmEEMEENnNEEEeeEYyYYE MmMMm-m—MiMmmNIiiI-II Mo-EEe“  
But when Foxy joined in, looking at them in order again, he got it. His voice was weirdly hushed, with a high frequency noise in the background. Incredibly hurtful to the air. “Ccccccccaaaaaaaatccccchhhh… a… tiiiiigeeeeeerr… byyyy… the tooooooeeeeee…”  
Freddy chuckled his voice retaining the echo-y sound its chuckle already had given away. “IiIfFf HhEe HhOoLlLlOoEeRrSs, LlEeTt HhIiMm GgOo.”  
Chica… stayed quiet. She was staring.  
Instead, Bonnie took over again. “eEE-EE-EeeeEeenEennNNnYY-MEEeEennnEYyYy Mm—MiMmIIiinNiii MmmMIIIiinNNEEEeE-“  
“NO.” It was then Chica stepped in. Her voice was just as unpleasant as the other´s, but more… human like. More like an actual scream. Trapped in a well.  
Snapping around the other animatronics looked at their wayward companion, their bodies clicking as their eyes moved around, trying to figure out what and why their friend said what they said.  
Some inhuman noises were made and Foxy stepped forward, but Chica repeated, more distressed, her body rattling as she was shaking. “NO. NO. NO.”  
A hiss sounded, first from Foxy, then from the two others as well.  
Fascinated Old Sport looked back and forth between them, wondering if they actually talked or if they were… somehow magically transferring thoughts and emotions…  
Next to him Mike slowly broke down, holding his head. “S-Shhh- StOp- Fighting-“  
Wonderful.  
Who would kill them first, the robots or the freaking out human?  
At this point he was ready for the ride.  
A smile crept on his face.  
He wondered if he turned, how many kills he could steal-  
All of a sudden, despite the rumbling and screeching going on, they head a very audible whistle. A stock sound whistle to be exact.  
Followed by a loud crack in the air and an electrical frizzle.  
“G-GET BACK YOU DARN MOLDY BOTS!” And like the savior he never was meant to be, Phone Guy stood there, whip in hand. In a way he looked like a very confused ringmaster. Again, he cracked the whip and the animatronics fearful stepped back, growling aggressively, but obviously scared.  
The whip was crackling with electricity and all of them moved backwards in one group.  
Quiet sobbing was audible, but nobody was sure where it came from.  
Then the animatronics retreated fully and disappeared into the dark.  
For a moment everything was quiet, the group was still trying to recollect their nerves, while Simon simply stared them down.  
Thankfully, he was the first to talk. “Now… what the h-heck are you doing in MY forest?!”  
“Can´t remember ya buying it.” The Purple Guy growled. “What are ya even doin´ out here?”  
“… I heard a scream?” Irritated Phone Guy looked at him.  
“So?”  
They stared each other down, for some reason Dave seemed… mad.  
Finally, Ethan stepped forward, taking a deep breath. “What the hell is going on.”  
Making a vague movement, Simon signed them to follow. “Let´s… all get inside. This was a bit much, you could use… oh, I don´t know. A hot cup of tea. Or a lukewarm cup of water. I´m actually not sure what I have.” For a moment he hesitated, his view staying on the group. “… Mike? Are you okay there…?”  
The other turned to the odd one out, who was still looking as if his head was about to explode. Under their stares though, he stared back as if he wasn´t feeling like puking. “I´m fucking fine. Let´s get out of here, before they come back and rip us all a new asshole.”  
They turned and went towards the light of the house, an abandoned glow in the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween!  
> I hope you enjoyed!  
> Sorry for the slight cliffhanger ;3


	37. Midnight Tea Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mike: u mad bro? ethan: YEAH I MAD BRO  
> \- Description from the fantastic Oralite. Thanks for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo wats dis? - Oralite, who was so kind to beta read and help me out! You are fantastic my friend! 
> 
> I dead ass forgot the title. Dumb me >:c  
> I apologize for being late! :v  
> Hope you enjoy!

Phoney led Ethan, Mike, Dave and Old Sport to the living room, where they sat down promptly and in the dead, unnatural light of the single lost light on the ceiling, the room looked even more depressing than it looked when Mike had been there the first time.  
At least the warm kettle of tea was making it seem more homely.  
Phoney handed everyone a cup and the sat down with them. Or at least he’d WANTED to hand everybody a cup, but sadly he didn't have enough there, so Dave and Old Sport had to use a glass instead.  
They stayed silent for a moment, each of them trying to process the events for themselves. The only exception was Mike who simply laid his head onto the table, the pain in his head growing stronger and stronger with each passing minute.  
The first one to speak was Ethan.  
“To recap tonight’s events. Dave Miller and…” For a moment he paused, trying to remember the name of the Orange Guard. The man was somewhat forgettable, he had looked it up three times already in private and was always surprised when it popped up. “... Old Sport...entered the woods at night, with questionable motives. Whatever their plans was, it was interrupted by the realization that apparently… damaged versions of the animatronics roam the forest. Damaged animatronics which, apparently, nobody knew about. That scream like children. That are potentially- no, probably incredibly dangerous. Something you’re aware of, seeing your reactions.” Leaning forward, a hard expression on his face he looked at each of them in order. “How could this have happened?”  
“Fire.” Old Sport shrugged.  
“Yeah, we're- I mean, can ya blame us? We thought they all burnt up!”  
“You want to tell me THAT story? You honestly think you can pull that one over me?"  
“Got away with worse stuff, just bein’ honest!”  
Distressed, the detective leaned back, rubbing his face. This night had become beyond wild and it was difficult to hold himself together.  
Simon quietly added to, in hopes to ease Ethan’s nerves. “I have to reassure you that we didn’t know about this until tonight.”  
“And I must respond that I see that as very unlikely, since you left your house conveniently with a weapon that is capable of scaring them away?”  
“Listen. Those two-“ Simon signed at Dave and Old Sport. “- they're always up to… trouble. It's Halloween. Or- it was. Which means they're especially… active.”  
The conversation went on, but that was as much as Mike could listen to. His head on the table, he slowly closed his eyes, until the voices became quiet whispers in the background. The constant chatter was tiring.  
Outside.  
Outside.  
They're all outside.  
Take.  
Care.  
They're  
So  
Young-  
Reaching into his pocket, he wanted to calm his raging headache down again. He almost managed to last a full day on the pills he had taken the morning, but of course his luck had to run thin. While fumbling around, he was interrupted by Phone Guy calling out to him. “-Mike?”  
When he saw he got his attention, he worriedly tilted his head a bit and leaned closer. “... why are you even here? Did… did something happen?”  
“Hm-?” He glared up after a brief moment, realizing all of them were staring at him.  
“Of all of us, you have the least reason to be here.”  
“Fuck you… can’t I be… wherever the fuck I want to be?” Scoffing he rubbed his temples and attempted to remember. “… didn't… you call me? Somebody called me. You called me. I-“  
Of all people, it was Old Sport who seemed interested.  
And in the way he softly tilted his head and something flickered-  
Oddly familiar-  
“Maybe the robots?” It didn't SOUND right either. Too smooth.  
Too smooth- movements- creating- discomfort-  
Thinking was hard. He blinked a few moments. “Fucking yes you genius. They went to a fucking payphone and prank called me after stealing a fucking quarter from the nearest ice cream shop.”  
“You would be surprised…” A smile was on his face, it wasn't a smile Mike had liked-  
Too familiar, too familiar-  
“I just walked off. Maybe. Fuck. I don't know, okay? I thought I remembered- something- and went to visit the Phone. That isn't illegal, is it?!”  
The detective leaned back, even if something in his expression seemed ready to argue that it was.  
But he stayed quiet, instead it was the Orange Guy of all people who leaned in a bit, smiling. “Not illegal, no. But odd. Do you not agree?”  
“Shut up-Let me- let me just take my pills, it’ll be-”  
“No. No, no. Wait with that for a moment.” Orange Guy seemed a bit too interested.  
It made every person at the table uncomfortable.  
“Old Sport? Are ya… alright?” Dave shifted, his discontentment growing.  
“Hm… yes. I am good.”  
Another pause ensued, interrupted by someone Mike didn't want to see at all.  
Sure fucking thing, there Pinkfuck Mcgee was. Standing in the door, talking to him.  
“Michael. It is overdue that we have a talk.”  
Suppressing the urge to ask him what the fuck HE was doing here, the man was caught between just swallowing a pill and getting rid of it, instead of-  
“I think I may be able to answer a few questions.”  
… fuck yourself.  
But.  
It was a strong lure. The one lure he would follow.  
Standing up he glanced around.  
Nobody dared to say anything to the unstable Guard and the most he got was a nod, especially since Dave was too preoccupied trying to shake the dazed Old Sport out of whatever had come over him.  
Leaving the room behind, Henry got moving too when he saw he had the attention of the Guard.  
And despite being weary, Mike followed.  
They ended up in the small hallway in front of Phoney's room, the furthest point away and the point where Mike didn't want to wait anymore. “Henry fucking Miller.”  
“Mike Schmidt.”  
“You damn fucking right that's my name. If you got that into your thick fucking skull, why did you call me fucking Michael before?!” The man was earnestly annoyed with that.  
“Because it is always sure to get your… attention.” Leaning back against the wall, his black eyes wandered over Mike, making him extremely uncomfortable. “And this is a pressing issue, especially since my time talking to you is, to put swiftly, limited.”  
“Why.” This wasn't directly aimed at the statement, but the situation in general.  
“The nature of the soul is an odd one and the realms are complicated to explain. Each realm follows its own set of rules. Today is still the night of Halloween and while I am not sure as to HOW and WHY, it seems that the realm's walls become… thinner. An influx of energy? Possibly. Human traditions tend to have roots, Mike. Anyways. While I am constantly aware, unlike the children you spend your time with, I am incapable of leaving… of communicating. Yes, leaving would be the wrong word, as it would imply I possess something.”  
“You… don't…?” This was getting fucking confusing rather quickly.  
“No. It would not be possible to possess Dave, due to his rather unique soul. Also I lack the presence of my own soul to do so. I did never technically die…” Trailing off something hard and cold moved into his expression, before it vanished again as he smiled. “… if it helps you understand- I am merely projecting and watching via a thin connection of a body. I am not truly here… or at least I am here as much as tiny men are caught in your television.” Shaking his head, the Pink Guy eyed Guard carefully, trying to judge if he used the right words to make this complex issue a bit more understandable.  
Since no backlash came from the other man, he continued. “This is not unlike the bodies you have seen before. The children without their animatronics, the Marionette’s way of watching the restaurant, the weird creation Dave gifted his… friend… all those were technically speaking projections of the highly energetic soul.” Apparently he expected Mike to keep up with his words, so there was no pause as he continued.  
“Soul has no technical amount of form, but mind and body molds it to fit whatever currently is the vessel. For the animatronics this is valuable, as the soul needs to overcome the extreme change between their first and their new body. While the humanoid projection has no practical use, it seems to bring them comfort and increased sense of self.”  
“…?” Silently the Guard tried to figure out where this was going. Sure. It was nice to know why the fuck he sometimes saw humanoid ghosties- it freaked him out thinking back of it- but didn’t the asshole JUST say they didn't have much time?  
“Which leads me to another form of possession. It is rather interesting to look at, though the implications are far more fascinating overall. You see Mike, the creatures following you around, back in the forest… Did you, perhaps, notice anything particularly peculiar on them?"  
“… they seemed to have partially things hanging from them.”  
“Organic matter, yes. You could say they looked… stuffed. Fascinating, was it not?”  
“I'd rather say disgusting.” Before Mike’s eyes, the world started spinning. The aggressive Guard didn't feel too good in Henry's presence.  
“If you say so. But the implications are delightful. Their bodies are dead and they finally are shedding themselves from their attachment to the form of it. Which in turn opens… options. They are melting into their new bodies. Accepting them.”  
At this point it felt like something was slowly burning through his brain. “You wanted to tell me how the fuck I got here?”  
“Why… yes. Apologies. It is all connected, so excuse me making no sense at first. You have something attached to you as well. It urges you to help. And I am here to tell you… not the opposite, but to implore you to try something different.” At that he paused, his smile becoming a bit wider. “Before you complain, I agree, why should you trust me? Ignoring the fact that the souls are just at untrustworthy and dare I say human as I am, they are also not the all-knowing beings they enjoy pretending to be. He thinks he knows what the children need. He does not. I do.”  
“So you're that magical all-knowing fu-“  
“I am an adult, Mike. I indeed have some more competency than a child.”  
“… arguing is always possible.”  
Slowly shaking his head Henry glanced him up and down, but seemingly decided to drop it. “I know who is accompanying you. A soft-hearted kid. Too soft-hearted maybe. Soft heart, soft mind- in a way it became his strength. He never did much on his own. But he was quite talented at uniting people under him. Admirable, I will not take that from him. But by far not enough… what did he do to you?”  
The bitter taste of regret filled Mike’s mouth, but he wasn't sure where it came from.  
Probably from following that fucker and now being stuck listening to his insane ramblings.  
“Nobody did anything to me, what the living FUCK-”  
Without any regards to the guy he was speaking to, Henry continued. “He lured you out into the woods with no protection to do… what exactly? Thinking you would be capable to convince them? They barely know what they are anymore. The dream of reasoning with these creatures is a naïve one, dangerous as well… but if it is only costs the life of an adult man, then it is a risk worth taking, is it not? Well. I disagree… seeing as there is no way it will in any way aid to their goal. You, as well as them has much more purpose you could fulfill, there is no need for this waste… my reasoning for offering you assistance… a second time.”  
“For someone who talks about having to fucking hurry, you're an awful fucking chatterbox.” His head hurt not as much anymore, but he felt incredibly tried. Lacking all energy.  
“You must be the first man following the promise of knowledge, then proceeding to complain about too much information.” Calmly he let his glance wander over the man. “Alas. You are indeed correct. So I will tell you what to do… that is what your kind like, is it not?”  
The soft snicker and condescending tone made Mike snap up. “My fucking kind?”  
“… heroes. Heroes are supposed to follow their destiny. Or at least that is how the story goes… excuse my light teasing. My social skills have rapidly depleted in the years I spent… on my own. So, let me explain what you need to do; starting with the obvious- you need to get them out of the forest, away from a place where they can harm themselves and others. Common sense, dare I say. For that you will have to lure them into my workshop, which will prove itself quite difficult, seeing as the way down there is made for… calm creatures.”  
“Creatures?”  
“It is a workshop. The word ‘creature’ includes pretty much everything capable of independent movement, seeing as I have transported quite a number of different being down and up the elevator.”  
“That sounds fucking horrific.”  
“Yes, indeed, what a crime taking a docile animal down there to study its movements in order to imitate their behavior to a certain degree. Terrifying.”  
“You're such a fucking freak-“  
“Mike Schmidt. I have worked long and hard on my animatronics and at the current moment we have a higher priorities than question my methods.” Raising his head, looking outside as if spotting something, he paused, then his focus went back to Mike, his voice harsher now. “William will aid you, if you chose to finally come to your senses. Believe me, the sooner, the better… I am not yet certain what may happens if you leave them to roam.”  
With that he abruptly turned around and left. “No more time. Good day to you, I hope we have soon more opportunity to talk.”  
“Wait, wait, wait, you can’t just fuck off after spewing all that-“  
BUT HE COULD!  
AND HE FUCKING DID!  
Around the corner and gone.  
What an asshole.  
For a moment Mike stared at the point where Henry had disappeared, not really knowing what to do. Halfway he could hear a discussion coming from the living room.  
Shit.  
He should probably join that.  
Uncertain he moved towards the room and came early enough in to hear Simon saying in a rather stressed voice “Either way, this has been long enough. If you would mind, could you all leave? I need sleep.”  
“Are you joking?! We need to call backup! They are STILL ROAMING! Return my phone, this instant!”  
“Chillax, budster! Those thingies stop movin' at six!”  
“It is nowhere near that time! Even if, they need to be taken care of. They are dangerous-“  
“We took care of it last time, Mr. Cross, we will be able to take care of it this time.  
“Last time was already bad enough. But at least last time you were instantly on the case, as soon as they escaped. These have been out here for some time! This is NOT safe-“  
Just hearing the chaotic mess of voices made Mike instantly feel sick again.  
His mouth tasted red, but he couldn't remember biting his tongue-  
Barging in, Mike stared down Ethan, who had a rather aggressive stance and was reacting accordingly to the man- he was a perfect mirror to his own anger.  
“Stay fucking out of this.” Stay out of it, stay OUT-  
“Are you out of your mind-“  
Almost the aggressive Guard moved to grab the detective, but with one small hand movement, Phone Guy made him freeze. “No. Not in here. We all need to go home- I mean- you. I need to… rest.”  
It was quiet for a minute, then Old Sport lead the small group towards the door and opened it, looking around. It was rather dark, but nothing seemed to be out there. Good thing their glowing eyes would give them away!  
“This is not safe.” The detective moved around. “They pursued us. Whoever programmed them, programmed them with the intent of damaging people!”  
“Maybe just us.” Between tired and angry Mike began walking forward, just to abruptly stop as the sound of mechanical clicking and an odd booting up sound. Lights flared up in the darkness.  
The burnt Chica stepped forward and everyone reached for the weapons- if available. Surprisingly enough it actually made her stop in her movements and she resulted to make weird, cut off screeches.  
Neither of them seemed to know what to do, so they hesitated and waited, frozen in place.  
A while passed and Chica became quiet too. Then she stepped closer once more.  
“What in god's name is happening?” Poor Ethan. The only one around here who hadn't been ready for this madness. In his lifetime he had seen many horrible crimes. Things that were utterly despicable, almost inhuman. He had meet people with empty eyes and an even emptier smile, with no care or empathy for any other human or non-human creature, he had seen people pushed into horrible situations with even more abhorrent coping mechanisms-  
But this was beyond human.  
This was beyond reality.  
Slowly the chicken inched closer, very careful to not anger the men standing in front of her.  
The white orbs inside that damaged head burnt themselves into Ethan. He hadn't seen anything like it before.  
It looked monstrous.  
… but… it didn't seem dangerous.  
As it was rather close now, he nervously glanced at the other people around him, who all were fixated on the creature. One angry, one bored, one curious and one… one he wasn't sure about, since all he saw was a Phone weirdly reflecting the lights in front of it.  
At first he couldn't talk, his throat only allowed a dry cough, but when he regathered, he managed to sound almost confident. “We… the animatronic looks considerably docile- we- can't we just deactivate it right now?”  
It made a pathetic squeaking noise in response, but it was drowned out by Dave's snicker. “We ain't deactivating that shit. It ain't powered by some battery, it's usin’ the soul of the kiddens I strangled way back!”  
Everybody turned to him. “DAVE!”  
“Oh shit. Shouldn't have squealed to the fuzz, should I?” He guilty he grinned. “Technically he ain't with the fuzz though, so can ya blame me for forgettin’?”  
The blood ran cold through his veins. “You- YOU-“  
“Oh shut up, ya big ole idiot.” Dave scoffed. “Ya knew it was me. Remember when you caught me, back in- 19… uh… 1970… somewhere after that.”  
Mind racing Ethan stepped back. “You- the-“ But he remembered well. “That couldn't have been YOU.”  
“Why not?” Dave glared at the Chica again.  
“You SHOT YOURSELF.”  
“Sure. Was a fuckin' bitch to get cleaned up and away while your friendos were swarmin' the place. It's lots easier to get out of a Morgue at night than tryin’ to escape while bein’ watched!”  
“You were DEAD- that man- Richard- you are- you had to be someone- someone else- with the same skin condition-”  
“Couldn't believe you fuckin' believed that! It was GREAT! But I guess ya had to believe it. If Phoney could look the same in each place you visited, then why couldn't I? Right? It ain't easy for odd-lookin’ people to find a job and Freddy's is famous for hirin’ all sort of odd folks, so naturally we gravitate towards there, eh? It was some sort of skin disease or somethin'- just a HUGE coincidence. You're so fuckin’ stupid Ethan, I always saw you like a second Phoney.” Contempt and disgust were so prevalent in his words that even Mike shuddered a bit. “Always showin’ up, messin’ with things you shouldn't be worried about-“  
“You killed my daughter.” With that he had raised his weapon at Dave, his expression almost blank- until it slowly turned into intense rage. “YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!”  
Painfully the tip of a Taser was shoved between his shoulders. “I wouldn't do that.” Old Sport calmly petted him with his free hand.  
Meanwhile Dave only smiled. “Ah, Sportsy, don't cha worry. What is he gonna do, shoot me? Plenty of people did that before, lemme tell ya. Come on, Old Detective. Shoot me. See if I care. Gimme the gun, I'll even shoot myself for ya!”  
This couldn't be real, this couldn't be real at all.  
His hand shivered as he looked around at the two other present men. “Y-you knew.”  
Mike shook his head and looked away, his mouth feeling sealed.  
Phone Guy's lack of facial expression made his words feel even worse. “That's just the Freddy’s way, sir. I would have stopped it if I could.”  
There was a very certain type of terror in being surrounded by people that have accepted murdering children as a normal occurrence.  
But while he was still frozen in the horrifying realization, Chica screamed out, moving from side to side, shaking its head in a way that made it unclear if it was an actual gesture or just the animatronic glitching around. Old Sport promptly stepped back to have his weapon free in case it would attack them-  
Yet somehow it surprised them that it actually did.  
In a rather violent movement, the heavy creature jumped at the Orange Guard, who managed to hit it with the Taser as it approached, but the movement alone was enough to still be faced and crushed by a shitton of metal, resulting in a cry of pain.  
“SPORTSY-“ Dave was in on the action almost instantly, tackling the machine full force and getting it off like that from his friend. “DON'T YOU TOUCH MY ORANGE BABY YOU SHITBAG!”  
The animatronic monster screeched and pecked at him, resulting in a huge spot at his shoulder, slowly dripping blood.  
Mike cracked up, unmoving, his flickered. “How unfair of you. She's unarmed!”  
“Is that really the place for puns, employee?!” At least Simon seemed rather worried, stepping back.  
“Let’s go back in…” Was the only answer.  
“Y-you two-“ Unbelieving Ethan looked between the happenings back and forth.  
“He’s a child murderer. Fuck, I don’t care what happens to him.”  
“BUT YOU WON’T HAND HIM OVER TO THE POLICE?!”  
“Wouldn’t do much. Not to mention, it might get our location closed down.” With that Mike grabbed Phoney and dragged him in. “You wanna stick around too?”  
“You- you’re all insane-“  
“Buddy. Feel free to die out there. I had a bad fucking night. But let me tell you one thing- you WON'T shut our place down.” There was something utterly threatening in the way he said that, as the light from inside the of the house in the made him look like a shadow more so than a human. “You should really cut your losses.”  
“Did- DID YOU JUST TELL ME TO FORGET ABOUT MY-“  
The screech from the side made him shut his mouth.  
Dave was standing over the still dazed Old Sport, the frizzling of electricity from his Taser being a constant backdrop. His eyes glowed brightly with anger.  
Its foe had retreated, still screaming somehow ANGRILY- But now not attempting to jump them anymore.  
As Old Sport stood up, Dave took a moment to smile at Ethan, showing all his teeth. “Ya got out with your life, didn't ya? Go back to your family. You ain't appreciating enough what you still have. I've heard you had a splendid son too? What about him? He ain't dead. Yet you're here, hunting for somethin' you won't ever get back.”  
“You. You wouldn't understand. You're a monster. You don't know what is like-“  
“Ya know what? I could tell you bit about MY family. But I won't, because you ain't worth it. You see only what's right in front of ya, you come to the simplest conclusion and think how they’re taught you. Could ya ever imagine seeing a robot as your kid?”  
“What are you TALKING about?!”  
“Aw, is it too much? You know what, Ethan, I never really liked ya. It kinda hurts not bein' recognized, not gonna lie, even if it's convenient as shit. Fucking around, pretendin' I'm someone else… funny, but I'm tired of it. I'm tired of ya, Ethan! And I'm not about to let ya ruin my hom-“  
“Dave.” Suddenly Old Sport interrupted. Stumbling closer, he leaned against the Purple Guy, who shocked wrapped an arm around him. “… I want to go home…”  
“Oh. I'll just quickly-“  
“Now.”  
“Welp. Ya heard Sportsy, didn't ya?” Already leaving, Dave only shortly glanced at him. “Luck really is your lady, ain't she? Take what you can get. Nobody wants you messin' with this. It's goin' good right now.”  
With that they disappeared between the trees leaving the utterly horrified man behind.  
The guy couldn't move, not yet.  
Chica clicked and made a weird noise, before trying to move towards him.  
Automatically he raised his gun, despite knowing it'd be useless.  
To his surprise it did actually deter the creature. For a moment it froze, then moved back, before turning away and running.  
Paranoid he checked behind him, to see if maybe something more dangerous had scared it away, but no. Nothing.  
His legs started moving on their own, towards the exit of the forest.  
Needed to get out.  
Needed to-  
Make a plan.  
The monster had admitted to killing- not only Evelyn, but so many others as well.  
He needed to stop him.  
Oh god, he remembered he had seen him shoot himself right through the head, this wasn't possible-  
What WAS that thing?!  
Stumbling a bit, he again checked around for the glowing eyes of the- things-  
Nothing there.  
His brain was desperately trying to rationalize what he had heard.  
How are dead kids supposed to connect to power, that makes no sense-  
Ethan didn't believe in the supernatural.  
Never did-  
They all admitted to it, all of them without batting an eye-  
Not a sliver of regret.  
They were all-  
He needed to be careful.  
They made it rather clear-  
A hundred thoughts were storming in on him at the same time, made it impossible to concentrate on one and finding a solution.  
But that sure as shit wouldn't stop him from trying.  
He knew now. He doubted they would let him live that much longer now that he for certain knew.  
Act fast-  
Back when he first came to know about what happened, he had decided to kill the animal that did these things.  
There had been a certain change in his perspective.  
Yes. He was fully aware how wrong it was.  
But enough was enough and there was no “fair trial” needed. There was no chance for that… THING… to change. It took too much. Of him. Of others. Of the world.  
Robbed the world of so many pure, innocent minds.  
There was no need for jail.  
It wasn't about rehabilitation.  
And no matter what he did, if he ripped out his organs and fed it to him- he NEVER would even be ABLE to stoop down to the murderer's level.  
But now he was faced with someone he wouldn't be able to kill-  
He would figure out SOMETHING.  
He had to.  
At least- stop him.  
He was still out, around to do horrible crimes.  
Even if jail wasn't enough for someone like him, he would have to try- try to keep others save.  
He needed to get to him.  
He needed someone to talk.  
To admit, in public.  
Under different circumstances he would have rushed back and forced either of them to help him.  
If he had to by force.  
But there was one other person he wanted to talk to.  
NEEDED to talk to.  
Because if that person was in on it, he was most deserving of the threats he would spew at them. 

The frantic knocking echoed through the flat, making both people inside jump a bit.  
“W-who is it?” Utterly fearful Jeremy was frozen, sitting up in bed.  
Marion looked confused, first at the door, then at the human, seeing as he didn't make a move to open the door. Sure, it was the most reasonable reaction to hearing a knock on the door in the middle of the night, but since when did Jeremy react normal? A few second of constant ringing later, the Puppet softly touched his shoulder. “To find out you'd need to open, you know that.”  
“U-Uh… yes… right! I'll… do that.” Standing up he hesitantly went to the door. “H-Hello…?”  
Since the situation WAS worrying, Marion decided to attach himself on the ceiling over the door, ready to POUNCE, resulting in a small smile from the boy.  
“Ethan Cross is here. Open the door.”  
“O-Oh, right away sir!” Relieved Jerry opened the door and allowed him in.  
What the boy didn't seem to notice, but was painfully obvious to the animatronic was the weirdly shifty eyes of the man. He appeared about ready to hurt someone.  
Slowly the puppet go ready to attack if he had to.  
“If I may ask of you, Mr. Fitzgerald, sit down. We have something to talk about.”  
Surprised at the serious tone of the man, he sat down. “Yes, sir? Did something come up?”  
“You knew.” Something sounded dead in his voice. “You all knew. It's time to be honest with me, Mr. Fitzgerald. Kids died, you knew the culprit and you looked me into eyes, without-“  
“Sir! What are you talking about?”  
“They have admitted it to me, Fitzgerald. It is time you do too.”  
Hesitant Jeremy shook his head. “I'm really sorry, sir- E-Ethan- please calm down!”  
“David Miller is a murderer. A-an immortal one at that-“ It was then he realized how insane he sounded.  
“… Ethan.”  
At this point he regretted having allowed Jeremy to refer to him by his first name.  
“… y-you need to rest. It's… it's rather late. O-or early, h-hah.”  
What was he doing?  
It was three AM, he just- went straight to the house of a potentially innocent boy-  
No. No, no, NO-  
They KNEW. They ALL knew.  
But at least he felt calmer now.  
“Jeremy. You coworker is a murderer. He himself said it.”  
“… sure about that-? I- excuse me, I just- meant- are you sure he wasn't… joking…?” Rubbing his eyes the young worker was hit full force with his exhaustion.  
“I-“ Irritated Ethan paused.  
Why was he questioning himself right now?  
This couldn't be clearer.  
They told it themselves.  
There was no way to be CLEARER- “There- there are burnt animatronics in the forest-“  
“WHAT?” Now the boy was alarmed. “They- burned animatronics?! T-The original ones?”  
“Yes… they-“  
“That's horrible- they're still here- we didn't- Marion- We-we need tog there-“  
“Who is Marion?” Following his conversation partner's glance he looked behind him, but nothing was there.  
Meanwhile Jerry had stopped and sat down again. “No... no… I know. It's- it's too late now…”  
“Too late for WHAT?” Bothered Ethan stood up a bit, he could swear he heard a noise behind him, but he ignored it. “Listen tonight I found out that man I thought that I murdered- the man that shot himself through the head, declaring he was innocent- was a murderous monster all along and played me for a goddamn fool. I do not CARE about it being too late anymore. I care about finally-“  
With teeth and claws he tried to fight back against the louder and louder turning voice screaming him down that this has been a horrible decision.  
But that didn't make any sense, the rational was flawed-  
Jeremy ripped him out of thoughts. “N-nothing. Nobody. Listen- I'm- I'm really tired, forgive me for that! Please, sir. Let's talk tomorrow. Right after work!”  
“Some-something is messing with my head-“ Abruptly Ethan stood up and took a deep breath. “You are right. This is the wrong time. It is late. But- I WILL get to the bottom of this. I will stop the Purple Guy. And if it's the last thing I will be doing.”  
“That's… a rather grim way of looking at it… I'm sure it's just… some sort of misunderstanding!” Smiling Jerry stood up, staggering when he was interrupted by a giant yawn. “S-sorry!”  
For a moment Ethan stared him down.  
The way he looked at the boy made Marion's body tense up.  
“You will help me. You-“  
“Of course I will help you!” In a way he seemed a bit bothered. “This seems to really upset you, sir. I wouldn't leave you alone with this!”  
So suspicious. So damn suspicious-  
His eyes were burning and so did his joints.  
Full force all the stress and terror of the night struck and he almost swayed on the spot.  
Too late. He pushed it too far.  
“A-are you okay, Mr. Ethan?!” Worried Jeremy stepped closer, but an offhand Ethan signed him to stay in place.  
“We will speak tomorrow. Sleep well, Jeremy. Excuse my sudden barging in.” With that he already disappeared out of the door and was gone.  
For a moment the boy stared at the closed door, a sense of dread inside of him.  
Slowly he returned to the bedroom, lost in thought. “Do you think… Dave meant it?”  
“… referring to his murderous tendencies? YES. YES, JEREMY, I HAVE TRIED TO TELL YOU MANY TIMES.”  
“For you, everybody looks like a murderer…”  
“I never claimed-“  
“Either everybody looks to you like a murderer, or you killed people you know are innocent.”  
It was quiet in the room.  
“Good night, Marion! Looks like tomorrow will be rather eventful!” Snuggling into the blankets, he yawned once more. “… I hope it’ll solve itself… it would… would be really nice if it's all just… a misunderstanding…”  
And as Jeremy fully rolled up, Marion wondered why the fear in Jeremy's voice sounded so unfamiliar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! °D°  
> Until next time!


	38. A family of steel and rust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sven Korner was in the newspapers this Monday  
> Big picture from a time he danced the waltz  
> Yes, he took the life of Victoria  
> Come home, explain to Christiania  
> "Come here, officer, here are thousand bucks I've saved"  
> And give me Korner, and give me him soon  
>  Sven Korner was in the newspapers this Monday  
> I've heard that he bought a Pekingese  
> He was interested in a lot of things  
> Everything, from Hell to Tensing  
> Sven, you made it easy for us  
> I'll draw the last straw  
> Because, Sven, I have your fingerprints
> 
> \- (Translation) - Ompa til du dør ("Ompa 'til you die")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say hello to the song that made me create Ethan. Why did it have that effect? No idea, but it did.  
> Enjoy the chapter!

There was no light, not at this point in time.   
Too early.   
Ethan Cross sat on the bench, outside of the light of the street lanterns, the only thing alerting to his presence was the burning end of the cigarette in his hand.  
A bad habit, he knew.   
His children never liked the smell of cigarettes that much.   
Part of him wondered if he picked the habit up after Evelyn’s death to in a way deter the haunting memories of her.   
He should quit.   
He was trying to.   
But in the haunting cold, it was pretty much the only thing helping him endure it. Sure, it may was because it widened his veins- or made them smaller? He couldn’t really remember, nor did he really care.   
Quietly he looked at his hands in the dark, the distant light made them look almost blue.   
Just because you can’t feel the cold anymore doesn’t mean it isn’t eating you any less.   
Rubbing his head along each other, he glanced at the dog to his feet, who almost had melted with the darkness surrounding him. The creature still confused him, especially since he wasn’t sure where he came from and why he chose to stay by his side or leave respectively.   
It was a stray, so he might knew how to get out of places, not to mention he refused to be locked in. So that part made sense- somewhat. But why he sometimes laid at his feet like a loyal friend and at other times disappeared completely was still a mystery. What do you want from him, you weird dog?  
Shaking his head Ethan pried his thoughts away from the creature. He had bigger fish to fry.   
How do you kill the immortal?   
Probably by destroying whatever kept it alive.   
It was still so alien to him- all these- things.   
Immortal murderers, machines feeding of the dead to fulfill whatever dark intend they have been programmed into them and apparently a cult surrounding said murderer and machine.   
How could it have went unnoticed until now?  
“How could he NOT have noticed?  
Six AM.   
Late enough.   
Standing up he walked towards the apartment block, the dirty grey block in shadows of the approaching day.   
As he looked up the building, he saw two small lights in a window.   
Or maybe it had been eyes.   
Wait, did the two colorful men managed to-   
He hasted towards the door and paused for a moment, before calming himself down.   
There was no way either of them could have gotten here, except if they were here all night since before he arrived at Jeremy’s home and that could not be. It were probably some sort of normal lights or reflection of something in a distance.   
Marion, up at the window looked over to the sleepy looking Jeremy, who had made himself a hot chocolate. “He is coming in.”   
Jerry yawned, mildly confused. “Wh- whoooo?”   
“The detective.”   
“O-Oh… already?” The kid looked out, but the man was already at the door, ringing. As he stumbled towards it, Jerry just muttered “… I hope he got enough sleep…”, then he shortly paused. “Hey- Marion… do you HAVE to hide?”   
“Why do you ask?” Confused Marion looked at him.   
“Well- you may be able to explain parts better than I do…” Uncertain the kid shrugged.   
It made some sense to the animatronic, but he shook his head. “… I am not certain he can hear me.”  
“What?”   
“You heard correctly. Not everybody can understand…” The Marionette shook his head. “That would make things a lot easier, you know? Getting the complaints straight from the source… but it seems as if only people either on the payroll, or in long contact with the restaurant and robots themselves can actually be reached.”   
“Why?” Still completely clueless Jerry looked up at the machine.   
“… I will be honest, I have no idea. All I know is that once associated, their… resistances seem to erode? Walls… grow thinner… it is simply… easier to connect.” Struggling to express himself, the puppet managed to give out some sort of verbal frown. “I am not quite technically speaking, even now.”   
“So- what are you doing now-? Nevermind, we have a bigger issue- we need to ask him to-“ But at that point it knocked on the door and interrupted Jerry, who seemed mildly distressed, still opted to open the door, with the animatronic disappearing in a dark corner. “Hello, sir!”   
“Good morning, Jeremy. I hope I didn’t wake you up.” The detective sounded a lot more collected than in the night, though his eyes wandered around suspiciously and his shoulders seemed tense.  
Feeling a wave of pity, the boy smiled widely at him and signed at the couch. Not everyone was cut out to interact with Freddy’s so much. “No, I usually stand up around this time! Please, sit down, may I offer you something to drink?”   
“No… no, I am fine.” The man didn’t look fine in the slightest, but people had to decide to some degree themselves what they wanted and needed. Even if Jeremy didn't like it at all, he had to accept this. "I wanted to continue the talk from yesterday..."  
The boy nodded, it had been expected. "I said it yesterday and I will say it again... none of my coworkers are murderers."   
It was obvious the detective didn't believe him, but to be fair, for good reason. "Yesterday night, before I arrived at your home, I had a rather enlightening chat with four of them, all admitting to some degree that they have knowledge of the inhuman happenings of Freddy's, but you stay firm on to your statement that you have no knowledge whatsoever of any shady happenings?"  
Uncertainty was visible in Jeremy's face, as instead of one question mark, there appeared two. "... yes? Who told you that? If it was Mike, you need to forgive him- he has no idea what kind of jokes are good and bad at any given time..."  
"Three more have agreed to the truth of his statements." Slowly growing impatient under his calm facade, Ethan sat back and sighed. "I applaud your efforts, I really do, but your fellow workers haven't cooperated with you on this. Give up."  
"I don't work with murderers, sir-" Shortly the kid paused, clear nervousness suddenly popping into his face.   
It irritated the officer. Either this kid was a horrible liar, or the best liar there was. "... not even you seem to actually believe that."  
"I... well..." He moved around uncomfortably in the chair. "... can you count the animatronics as murderers...?"  
What a fucking joke.   
Ethan was certain the kid was messing with him. "Maybe their creator. Too bad both shortly after each other disappeared."  
"Oh, I don't think it's the maker's fault here..." Shaking his head, Jerry tried to gather himself. "Please, sir, would you kindly tell me what exactly happened yesterday and what you have been told?"   
Now, that was just amateur. Trying to determine how much he knew, so they could decide on how much they HAD to admit to...   
Crossing his arms, he leaned back, knowing he had a guilty man in front of him. So young and already so rotten. A shame. "I have been told all that is necessary."   
There was a deep frown on Jeremy's face, as he unconsciously shook his head. "No... I don't think you were. But, uh- that can wait! More important is right now- you said there are still animatronics in the forest? How did they act?"   
"... they threatened me and the others." Shortly he tried to remember if they maybe seemed to show preference or more aggression towards one of them, but no, not that he would have picked up on it...   
"They threatened you?!" Earnestly shocked the kid stood up. "That is not okay- so they- and they're still roaming around? We need to get them out of there!"  
His voice sounded so honest. It was scary.   
Ethan kept quiet, with the clear expectation of the boy to continue... which he did.  
"They are probably scared and confused- They don't deserve that!"   
It was after that it finally clicked.   
Maybe Jeremy wasn't a cunning, manipulative mastermind.  
Maybe Jeremy was straight up insane.   
After considering the signs pointing at that, the man across from him became a bit more hesitant. How are you supposed to deal with such a potential wrench in the system?  
Okay, IF Jeremy was insane, then he would mean well, even if being completely ignorant to the happenings around him.   
But that was only if Jeremy wasn't pulling a masterful lie.   
Uncomfortable Ethan considered his options. There weren't many, he was running out of time, or at least he knew he would have to expect to sooner rather than later not be able to finish what he had started.   
If he could get Jeremy to do him a favor...   
Suddenly the telephone rang, both of them turned to look and out of the corner of his eye he could see Jerry slightly cowering. What was he scared of?   
At least this meant that he could be scared.   
Shortly the thought of him or someone he loved maybe being threatened by the purple guy- it would be out of his usual line of acting, but for sure not impossible.   
A second nobody moved, but as soon as the leg of the detective only twitched slightly as if to move, the boy was jumping up and rushing towards the telephone, saying louder than necessary "This is probably for me!"   
Duh.  
When he accepted the call, his voice first opened with a hesitant "H-hello...?", but almost instantly he calmed down. "Oh! Dave! Yes? Yes, I'm pretty much ready to go. What? No... I mean... I can't really..."   
With a hint of guilt he looked at the officer, before freezing up and sounding astonished. "WHAT? No! NO WAY! Really? That is- that is GREAT! But- uh, what about the animatronics in the fo- ah. No, okay, I understand...? I think I know what to do anyways- yes. Yes, you're right. Uh... o-okay, I will be there as soon as I can!"   
With that he cut the line and smiled at his visitor. "Good news and bad news- what would you like to hear first?"   
"Bad news." There was only apathy in his voice at that question.   
"I sadly have to make you leave already- I'm really sorry! Two times in a row... but! On the good side of things, we may have an easier time to get the animatronics somewhere safe... I- yes, we will talk later about that one, okay?" With a reassuring smile Jerry gave him a thumbs up, before putting on his shoes. "We can walk a bit together-"   
"Dave Miller called?" That was fishy. "Have you maybe considered that it might be a bad idea to associate with him in the nearest future, after he has confessed a murder?"   
"... I told you he was only joking..." But Jeremy didn't sound all that comfortable.   
"He could hurt you, Mr. Fitzgerald. Have you thought about that?"   
This resulted in something akin to a scoff, even if only a small one. "Don't start like that too..."   
"Too?" Seemed like he would maybe find another person he could try to convince. "Who else is talking like that to you?"   
"Oh... a- a friend..." And there he was right back to being nervous. Not the fearful kind of nervous, but the worried kind of nervous. Worried that maybe something uncomfortable would happen.   
"Sounds like someone I would enjoy to meet." Ethan tried to sound as neutral as possible, showing his intense interest would only scare the kid away.   
"Maybe... but later." Bingo. "For now, I need to go."   
"To Dave?"   
"Well-" There was more hesitation and both of them jumped a bit as something inside of the apartment seemingly fell down.   
Yet, despite the unusually loud falling sound, Jerry kept putting on his shoes and got ready to leave, ignoring Ethan's irritated expression.   
"Don't you want to check that out?"   
"Oh, that was... something just fell over." Uncomfortable the kid itched his arms.   
"That sounded more like a normal falling over..."   
"Go and check it out if you want to, I guarantee you, there is nothing there."   
Why was the kid so adamant of it?  
Slowly Ethan began creeping towards the door he heard the noise out of, ready for an attack-   
As he opened it, nothing was there. Only a stack of comic books had fallen out. For another moment he checked every closet and all other things that someone could hide in, before putting them back onto the shelf and returning to the patiently waiting Jeremy.   
"Nothing, like I said, right?" For some reason the boy seemed resigned.   
Then again, it was probably somewhat uncomfortable to have a stranger searching through your home.   
"... your comics fell from the shelf."   
"Manga." There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, but not directed at the former policeman. "... I probably should put them into a safer spot."   
"Probably." Together they left the apartment, for the time needed to climb down the stairs it was quiet, only when they finally arrived at the bottom, Ethan spoke again. "... maybe I should come with you."   
"I don't think that would be good." The boy shrugged at the offer. "You two don't get along well, do you...?"   
If he thought about it, maybe in a weird sense of the way, Jeremy would be safer not openly associating with him. They would not try to hurt one of their own, correct?  
-  
Dave put the receiver down and expectantly looked at Old Sport, who was playing around with the mobile phone they had taken from the detective. "Told him what you wanted!"   
"Good job, David." His voice seemed to have a mildly sarcastic undertone and deep down the Purple Guy was mad at himself for dragging Old Sport into the forest- and at the animatronics that he blamed as the main cause for why his partner acted so weird again.   
He was FINE when they burnt them, but now they showed back up, he was all... mean... again! There had to be some sort of connection. Fuck, maybe he should burn the whole forest down to cheer Old Sport back up.   
There was nothing but silence afterwards, silence that Dave wanted to desperately break. "So, uh... Sportsy..." He froze up as Old Sport's eyes were set on him. They seemed unusually bright and hurt to look at. "... why now? For a while I didn't even think you wanted to go through with the Jerry-animatronic..."   
"He is the weakest link." The answer was cold and short, as if he expected Dave to already understand. Thankfully, after the guy stayed quiet for a minute longer, he continued. "It was somewhat useful in the beginning, but with the detective now running around, I don't want him to become a liability."   
"But... a bit of liability can be fun, right?" Uncertain Dave answered, not liking the way Old Sport was speaking in the slightest.   
"To who?" The sharpness in his voice made the other man jump a bit.   
"To... us...? Because we can, uh... be spontaneous and clever...?" It sounded pathetic, even in his own ears.   
But, surprisingly Old Sport suddenly sounded soft and warm. "Please, why are you so uncomfortable with this? It is not like he will disappear... we just make him proper part of the family. There is nothing wrong with this."   
A bit reassured the Purple Guy calmed down, but looked still unsure. "It's just... it's really rather sudden... didn't even finished the animatronic..."  
"It will be fine, again. We can perfect it once we have the spirit."  
Yeah. Old Sport was right.   
There was no problem here.  
They did it a bunch of times before-  
Well, not THEY, but he and Henry.   
And... they were fine, besides being disgruntled about never seeing their parents again.   
Meanwhile, Jeremy had nobody to miss, right?  
They would all still be with him...  
Both of them headed towards the door, waiting for the boy to arrive.   
What made him so uncomfortable?  
It wasn't even that Old Sport sometimes changed his mind. He himself did it all the time.  
It also wasn't the violent streak he developed from time to time... it wasn't really uncommon, not for anyone at Freddy's.   
Dave sighed, defeated. Apparently he was just weird. Fall and winter stressed everyone anyways.   
They didn't have to wait long until it rang and the kid stood in front of them, out of breath.   
Putting on his best smile, Dave put an arm around him. "Jerry! Ay! Took ya long enough! Gettin' rid of the puppet ain't easy, is it?"   
"S-sorry, I still had a visitor..." Seemingly somewhat embarrassed the kid bowed his head in a semi-apologizing manner.   
"At 6 AM?" Old Sport raised an eyebrow, then met Dave's gaze. 'See, told you he would get pressured', it said.   
"Well, it's a good time as any, right? He was also very nervous about the animatronics in the forest- and I mean, you were the one who told him you were murderers!" Straight to the point apparently, his voice had a lightly accusing tone to it.   
What was questionable was if the tone came from them fooling around with Ethan and scaring him like that, or if it came from him accusing them of being actual killers. But, if it would be that, he wouldn't come in all that casual, right?  
Probably.   
Still, with a bitter taste in his mouth, the Purple Guy had to admit his friend being right. This wasn't a good position for either of them to have Jerry running around like that.   
Especially when he continued. "S-so... what actually happened? Why did you tell him that? Are the animatronics actually in the forest?!"   
Raising his arm, Orange Guy managed to make him quiet down. "All to his time. Yes, we told him what he wanted to hear... mainly because he seemed about ready to accuse Mike of the crimes... and if Mike would have attacked him as his temper dictates, he would have gotten convicted without a second thought. It was better to distract the detective, would you not agree?"   
Both of the guys he was talking to appeared surprised, with Dave's surprise carrying worry and Jerry's surprise carrying relieve. "Makes sense! But, uh... it isn't really nice to do that to him... he lost his daughter to these tragedies!"   
"I know, I know." Slowly Old Sport nodded, as Dave frowned even harder. Since when did Old Sport know that? "But we did not have much of a choice, did we?"   
Uncertain Jeremy agreed, then opened his mouth to continue asking bothersome questions, yet before he could, the older man put an arm around him. "Now, Jeremy, the rest has to wait for now. We need to show you your animatronic!"   
Excitement and the need to first fully finish and understand the subject both struggled with each other in Jeremy's face, but when the Orange Guard slightly increased the pressure, he seemed willing to drop it for now. "So- but we do know what to do about them, right?"   
"Correct. All we need to do is to lure the five back here and down where we safely can store them."   
"Five?"   
Shortly he shook his head. "Excuse me. Four. I was distracted." With that he lead Jeremy towards a small room filled with tools and blueprints, took a wooden board from the ground which revealed a staircase and led the man towards and elevator hiding under it.   
Instantly the kid was utterly distracted and amazed.  
A secret elevator!  
How magical!  
Enchanted he skipped into the metal cage, looking interested at the blueprints and sketches hanging on the walls, as Dave and Old Sport joined him in the small space, the metal maws closing behind them for good.   
Slightly the kid yelped as the machine started descending, faster and especially louder than he had expected.   
Nothing unbearable.  
Just unexpected.   
It had something downright ceremonial to travel with in there, none of them speaking a word. Shortly Jerry wondered if this was how the preacher felt when on his way to speak to the people in church...   
But then the doors opened again already and opened into pretty much pure blackness.   
Curious he stepped forward, before pausing and waiting for some sort of explanation.  
Dave opened his arms.   
"Welcome to the workshop, young one! Here's where we do the good shit! Made most of the animatronics down there! Or at least designed 'em!"  
Appropriately impressed Jerry gasped, before giving the darkness another good look, hoping to now be easier able to spot whatever stuff could be standing in the dark. Helpful as always, Dave had gotten out his flashlight to illuminate all that Jerry seemed to have interest looking at.   
Continuing with his introduction to the place, since nobody else would, Dave began leading them. "Your animatronic is a big deeper in! Ya know, we need to protect us from burglars and shit, so you first gotta get through vents before getting to the good machines."  
"The how do the animatronics get out?" The voice echoed a lot through the small space, but that didn't take away from the deep interest audible in it.   
Surprisingly enough, Old Sport shortly took over explaining. "We have a second elevator- more or less a business entrance. But getting through there is even harder than getting down this way."   
Dave smiled a bit.   
The guy still didn't know about the third elevator, did he?  
Thank god.   
The silence coming from Jeremy implied that the boy was satisfied with the explanation he got.   
When they finally emerged on the other side, they left another break to give the kid in their midst a chance to take the place in. Naturally curious he went along, touching most of the mask and other little thing he saw, giggling when some of them would make a noise.   
Slowly Dave's glance wandered over to Old Sport, who looked awful- no offense. He had taken to lean against a wall, his chest shivering with each breath.   
Partially Dave felt the need to call out in order to check if everything was alright, but another part knew that wouldn't be welcome... it would draw Jerry's attention and ruin their plans-  
Oh to hell with their plans. "Old Sport? Are you okay?"   
In the dim lighting of the room, the barely glowing eyes of his friend flickered, before becoming a bit brighter again. "I... I think..."   
As expected Jerry was now worried too. "D-Do you have problems, Old Sport? Should we go out ag-"  
"NO." It was said with a lot more anger than necessary and instantly the Orange Guy calmed down again, his voice barely more than a mutter now. "I said I- I am fine... after all- we can't let Jeremy... wait... any longer."   
His breath was still a little shaky, but the smile on his face was firm again.   
Both of the other guys seemed about ready to argue, yet Old Sport lead them further in. "Get going!"   
They hesitated for a moment, but followed loyally.   
And finally it stood there.  
Still not fully finished, the shining metal of the suit alternated with the darker, heavier metal of the endoskeleton, the faceplates slightly opened and reflecting the light from the torch, creating almost the illusion of movement in the not functioning machine.   
But... it was dead.   
For now.   
Instantly the kid ran up to it, screaming in utter delight. "OH HOLY HECK! IT LOOKS AMAZING! IT IS SO COOL! DID YOU REALLY MAKE THAT OVER THE YEAR?!"   
Not really, mainly because Dave was too distracted with Old Sport and his robotic family. "Yeah...?"   
"IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL! SO DETAILED! IT EVEN HAS THOSE CUTE LITTLE TAIL FEATHERS- THEY MUST HAVE TAKEN AN ETERNITY-!"   
Bit by bit Dave moved backwards, to ensure he wouldn't get hit by the blood splatter, as he took out his remote control to time the attack. They hadn't had the time yet to program an attack trigger for the machine on its own, mainly because they only started last night with actually building on it with the intend to finish it.   
They more or less had just worked on it from time to time when they felt like it- adding all sort of weird feature for no reason but because they could.   
Wall climbing, the capability to stuff 50 burgers at once down the throat, a button that when pressed said "please don't press te button" and the ability to store three whole swans inside of it for up to three weeks.   
Not really on... any attacking mechanics- besides the swans. Nothing really capable of killing a person quickly and efficiently.   
So they simply installed a big claw that would snap out and crush whatever stood in front of it at the press of a button and called it a day. It would have to be enough.   
With a deep breath he got ready to press the button when Jeremy was back in position-   
"Stop." The voice was almost toneless and weak.   
Surprised Dave looked over at his friend, but did as asked, glad over this out. "Jerry! Come over, I'm thinkin' Sportsy ain't doin' so swell!"   
With that he grabbed his friend, picking up- relieved when there wasn't any sort of complaining from the other guy. Jeremy was there too almost immediately, a panicked expression on him. "I-Is he alright?"   
"... no..." It earnestly sounded pathetic, even if at least he himself answered. "... having a bad day... caught something in the forest..."   
"Ya can still get sick?" Almost shocked Dave paused, before instructing Jeremy to help him out   
"... caught dumb bitch disease..." At least he kept his humor.   
While helping him in and out the vents, Jerry shortly touched his forehead to check for heat, but didn't notice anything. Not that it meant a lot, but it was a tad reassuring.   
"Did... did building the bot do that...?" Weirdly guilty Jeremy looked at both of them. "Did you overwork yourself? I'm sorry, I didn't-"   
"Nah.. I just..." Old Sport looked exhausted. "... thought about bad things lately."   
"What kind of-"  
"Jerry." With a bit of a firm tone the Orange Guy changed the topic. "Did you like the machine?"   
Unsure the kid hesitated, then smiled lightly. "Yes! A whole lot! It is just as cute as the funtimes! I never expected you actually MAKING it when you showed me the blueprints- this is a dream coming true!" Sweetly the kid laughed, all giddy. "My own animatronic... part of Freddy's..."   
"I'm glad you liked this thingy."   
When they finally made it back up, Dave took Old Sport aside, leaving Jerry with a cup of tea and Alice, who was glad that somebody paid attention to her.   
"Okay, Ole Spore, what happened down there?" It wasn't meant to sound pushy, but he felt as if Old Sport was keeping things from him... and going on the offense might clear things up. "I thought you wanted to adopt him... you can't if he stays like that- he ain't gonna live even a quarter as long as we do!"  
"I know... I know, I know. But we can't keep him anyways..."  
"Why's that?" His voice was a bit softer, mainly because he wondered what changed in his friend's mind.   
"Everybody changes... I'm not the same person I used to be..."   
“But I love ya anyways!” Dave tried to cheer him up, as he sounded even more depressed than before. Not by much, but by a bit.   
Old Sport paused, almost frozen, then looked away, shaking his head. “Don't use words you don't understand." Slowly he relaxed though, Dave's words had calmed him anyways, despite his harsh rebottled. "And- sure, you still like me... but… you don't know who I was before. You only know this version. You don't know what changed, you don't know what I've become... or what I could have been.”  
This was a heavy topic, supposed to be handled with care... and the Purple Guy knew he was horrible at this kind of stuff. Okay, he HAD to try. Slow and steady wins the race. “What got ya thinking about this, Sportsy?”   
A long pause ensued, one that Dave couldn't read. Finally, Old Sport opened his mouth. “I recently dug up a few tapes…”   
“What tapes?” This earnestly raised suspicion in him. Freddy's had all sort of cursed tapes lying about, tapes that could mess up your head, not only via weird voodoo magic, but by their content alone. "Where did ya even get them from?"   
They wandered in another room to get out the tape recorder and the tapes, while Old Sport just shrugged. "I wanted to prank-call the factory, but after three hours and twelve minutes, the person on the other side just started crying and begging me to leave them alone, they would give me all the tapes they had laying around. Seemingly someone didn't want to hear about my biological explanation for why fingers should actually be called small tentacles."   
"Fingers ARE small tentacles, I thought people knew that already!"   
"Sadly no, so we gotta spread the word!" With a small snicker Old Sport put in the tapes, going quiet as soon as the tape was on.   
Phone Guy's voice sounded through the room.   
"H-Hello, hello? Is this thing on? Uh..."  
Another voice joined, with a slight laugh. "I think the light signals that."   
"I, uh... it would be annoying to have to run through this all again..."   
"I know, but let's just try it. Doing it again wouldn't be, uh- the end of the world anyways." The slightly smoother voice snickered again. "You're really infectious with all those "uhs", you know that, sir?"   
Sounding slightly tense the Phone Guy coughed. "... not only when it comes to that... u-uh... a-anyways, you think we can begin now, Simon?"   
"Yes sir! But... we could... you know... end the tape, hear it back and then we can be sure it works...?"   
"Ah- y-yeah, makes sense. Okay, how do I end this darn thing..."   
A click sounded through the room and they both were left with silence.   
It took another moment, but then Dave spoke up. "What about it, Sportsy?" There was a weird tone in his voice.  
"Well... it's Simon." The odd intonation of Dave's words made him hesitate.  
"Yeah?"   
"He sounded... fairly happy."  
"How do ya even know it's our Simon?"   
"Why are you suddenly so annoyed, Dave?" Irritated Old Sport stepped away from the table and his friend, inspecting him.   
"I dunno, maybe the fact that you just went off, ordering stuff behind my back, kept it secret from me and then getting all mushy over a Phone Guy again!   
"I- I didn't think it was important!"   
"Everything ya do is important to me!" Unhappy Dave shook his head. "I don't like that you're off doin' stuff, not lettin' me be part of it and then you suddenly start to act all weird... I worry, have no idea and then it turns out ya been off listenin' to this shit, no wonder you're in a bad mood!"   
"It's a bit more than a bad mood..."   
"Then what is it, Sportsy?!" Finally his voice quieted down again. "... talk to me for once."   
It was quiet for a moment, neither of them new how to continue.   
But then Old Sport wrapped his arms around Dave, holding him close. "... I'm sorry Dave."   
It stayed quiet for another moment.   
"... we should probably let Jeremy go home, shouldn't we?"   
They returned to the living room, where Jerry currently tried to do a handstand with Alice doing a perfect one right next to him.   
Cheery Dave approached him. "Ay, buddy! Sorry we had to cut it so short- we couldn't even activate it... promise we're gonna do it around Christmas, alright?"   
"Oh- Ouch-" The kid fell over as he tried to get up, now laying on the floor, sprawled out. "I- uh- don't worry! Don't rush, especially when you're sick! You never had to make one for me in the first place- I'm really thankful you're making it for me in the first place!"   
Softly Old Sport smiled, looking at the kid and wondering... but staying quiet.   
Like a second nature, his friend took over. "We're gonna see, pal! But for now ya gotta go home, we gotta-"   
"Get ready for work?" Jeremy perked up. "I shouldn't have been around for so long anyways! Sorry, should have thought of it! We'll be seeing each other!"   
"Jerry, hol' up a minute!" Helping the boy up, Dave led him to the side. "A few things... first up-"   
He handed him Ethan's cellphone. "- good ole Ethan dropped that. Give it back to him for me, will ya? Oh- and secondly, about the robots..."  
He leaned over to tell him something quietly, then patted his back.  
Quickly Jerry nodded and waved at the two, before hasting out, a tad guilty.   
Darn, he had overstayed his welcome... he is so silly! Darnit, darnit, darnit!   
And now he wouldn't even manage to get home to call Ethan to inform him he had his phone-   
Oh well, work comes first... so better off to work, he could talk to him later, right?  
Or maybe someone had the number of his home there...?  
Who knows, he had to try.   
But...   
... as luck would have it, he didn't even have to!   
Ethan was sitting around on a bench across of the street, making a short hand-movement when he saw the employee walk up.   
"Ah! Mr. Cross!" Relieved Jerry ran towards him, quickly handing him his phone. "Here! Dave found it- I should give it back."   
Surprised the detective accepted it, a tad distrustful. Almost he wished he were wearing gloves. "... thank you. Jeremy, did you-"   
"I talked to Dave and Old Sport and he told me-" Uncertain Jerry looked at the guy. "... he really only cracked a joke. If Dave would be a murderer, he could have killed me many times, so-" Breaking of, he shook his head. "Mr- Ethan. There is one other thing I have to ask of you..."   
For a moment the man only listened to him with one ear, as he noticed a new message on the display.   
Voice recording in fact.   
Jeremy just continued, not noticing. "... you need to come to the forest with me."   
That was when he snapped back up. "What?"   
"... please." Serious the Dayguard looked up at him. "... you have to come with me and help me try to check on the animatronics. I- you have to help me, nobody else can!"   
For a moment Ethan was suspicious, but then he realized... yes. He probably actually was, seeing as everybody else had conspired against everybody with reason in this place.   
The voice mail demanded his attention though, so he decided quickly for what he wanted to do- and he wanted to face the animatronics and neutralize them. "I will. When and where?"   
"I-" Surprised that the man agreed so quickly, Jerry paused. "I- don't have a plan yet... b-but it is good to know you will help me. I will- call you?"   
"Good idea." Standing up, he paused shortly. "I have- to attend matters. Please excuse me."   
Not waiting for the response, the man hasted away, opening the file to listen to it.   
It wasn't a big surprise when what he first heard was purple-  
Wait. A New Yorker accent. Not purple.   
What was wrong with his brain right now?  
“'Ello, Ethanol?” The man sounded rather cheery, though there was a certain coldness hiding directly under the surface of his tone. “How are ya doin'? Got through the night well? Anyways, just callin' ya about the robots. Did you call the police already?”   
With a cold shock he realized he didn't.   
His head started hurting. Why didn't he do that?   
There were MURDERBOTS in there and they wouldn't disappear so quickly-   
It was as if it someone- something just took it artificially out of his head and now he could feel the hole in there... after it had been forcefully back into place.  
But Dave's recording already continued. “Don't. Ya know, you could probably get 'em out there. Just… get some big van and all the men they send you to help and catch those animatronics. You could maybe even use them as a reason to shut us down. But, if ya think about it… some policemen would fuckin' bite the dust, because you're a lunatic and they ain't believing you when you tell 'em to bring actual weapons and to be careful. You’re just a delusional, burnt-out old guy to them. Also, I'll be gone again if the place shuts down. Ya won't know where to and ya won't know if I’d might be pissed enough to come back for you."   
The threatening tone subsided, he almost sounded sympathetic now. "Nobody goes into the forest, especially at night, so don't bother and do the RIGHT thing. Instead of calling the police, call your family.”   
Ethan's blood ran cold at the mention of that. This wasn't even a thinly veiled threat.   
"Ah, I remember ya tellin' me about it! Location… 30… 20…37… fuck, maybe back at location 12? One of those. We were such pals, best buds, ya gotta remember!" He laughed loudly, a sound he never expected to sound so disgusting.   
"Had tough times with them, but ya still love them, don't cha? Well. Maybe not. I wouldn't know. Greet lil Johnny from me, won't cha? Tell them ya love them. We never know what might happen, right?"   
The messaged ended and Ethan had to sit down somewhere, if possible someone people wouldn't stare at him.   
Oh god.   
What was he supposed to do.   
Silently he stared at the still empty streets.   
It felt like he was a puppet dragged roughly along on strings.   
But... he had barely any choice, did he?  
Hesitantly he tipped in the number.   
Long tones followed each other, signaling him to be patient.   
Part of him actually hoped for her to not pick up.  
Another part feared it.   
Then it clicked and the man almost wanted to hide his face.   
Before she could ask who was calling, it fell out of him.   
"Clara." More he didn't have to say. They hadn't talked in a while, but he could hear the sharp inhale followed by a pause.   
"Ethan." Her tone was frigid.   
It quieted down again.   
There was not much he could say.   
Or do.   
"How are you doing?" It sounded lame, but he earnestly wanted to know.   
"What did you do again?" Sharply she asked, expecting the worst.  
Then again, he had called for less than stellar reasons before.   
Still, he felt a bit attacked. "Nothing! Can I not call from time to time just because I want to know how you and our son are doing?"   
"Are you drunk?"   
"No." The man answered firmly, he moving from leg to leg. "Listen, Clara, I just wanted to check in. You are still- I still-"   
Another pause, none of them wanted to be the first one to say anything.  
Finally, he coughed. "How is he? John?"  
"Alright, I suppose. School is giving him a bit trouble, but at least he has his friends." The voice on the other side had calmed down a bit and almost sounded tired.   
"Is he... there right now?" Hesitantly Ethan tried to push how much he could allow himself.   
"For the love of god, it's seven thirty, Ethan. He is on his way to school."   
Ouch.   
It had been expected of him to know that.   
But he had lost sense of time.   
"I'm- sorry." Again, silence. "... tell him I called and would like to hear from him sometimes."   
"... I will." Clara sounded almost melancholic.   
"And- tell him I love him. Both of you."   
"Ethan, for the love of god, what did you do?" There was a real tone of fear in her voice.   
"I..." He coughed. "... nothing, really. I just... I think I might be close to solving this. And... I wanted you two to remember that."  
"... please. Please don't do anything stupid." For a moment, it was almost as if he was talking to his wife again, instead of a distant acquaintance.   
"I won't." He lied. "Speak to you soon."   
He cut the line and stared at his phone.   
So close.   
And if it would be the last thing he did.  
He would end this chain of tragedies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> … now how do I get a break from dramatic developments for the Christmas chapter?


	39. Forget, Forgot, Forgotten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The New Years arrives and because two chaots are SICK of dealing with consequences... so they pretend as if nothing happened.  
> ADULTING 101, EVERYONE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With greetings to my Lionheart Anon for the idea~! It is FANTASTIC!

The morning was grey and cold.  
Incredibly uncomfortable.  
Time had passed in a flash, despite nothing at all seemingly happening.  
Nothing of note, anyways.  
The restaurant had become oddly busy- apparently people started craving entertainment when Halloween had passed and Christmas was far away.  
Not that Mike would mind so much. He wanted his head filled with the busy buzz of nothingness, things to do that led nowhere. There was quiet pity underneath his uncaring shell, especially Jerry who constantly tried to get away, seemingly keen on doing something outside of the restaurant.  
The kid looked... stressed.  
But Simon refused to give him time off, this time around.  
Once Mike managed to break apart from his apathy for long enough to ask him why he was doing that, Phone Guy simply stated that he was worried.  
Well. It made sense. As horrible as Freddy's was, at least they were in control there, could overview whatever they wanted and in case of anything happening, they were THERE.  
But on the other hand, the danger would not suddenly wither away, just because they ignored it enough, no matter how much they wanted it to.  
Sadly, his apathy had returned with that thought, so he simply nodded and left.  
This mood had taken control of everyone it seemed- even Old Sport, who didn't appear bothered at first was much more cold and reasonable than his usual self. For shame, for once Mike would have actually appreciated one of his outburst. Seeing Dave so apprehensive was... uncomfortable.  
Again, maybe he should be doing something about it, but he wasn't.  
Not even Christmas anything was happening.  
It was then Mike's apathy slowly turned into anger.  
Not anger aimed at a person, but rather at the universe itself.  
Sure, they spend it together, the animatronics seemed to have fun-  
But it wasn't enough to snap them all out of this weirdly oppressive tiredness looming over Freddy's in general.  
He wanted an OUT.  
It robbed them of two months AND fucking Christmas, now he wanted it to be DONE.  
But... how?  
It was partially his own fault, with how he treated Dave and Old Sport. To be fair, they deserved to be treated with the utmost contempt, but it didn't really lighten the mood of anyone.  
With a deep sigh he opened the doors and entered the place. It was New Year's Eve, which mean for now it was calm- people prepared their own parties and since explosives weren't allowed at Freddy's- Baby's- ANYWHERE AROUND ANIMATRONICS- nobody was expected to show up, or at least not enough for it to be worth opening the place.  
All stupid excuses.  
Phone Guy kept the place closed down out of tiredness.  
Everybody was so tired.  
Phoney had mentioned everybody could might as well stay home- except Jeremy, who he had asked to watch over the robots with him.  
Also a stupid excuse, which was obvious to everyone but him.  
It was unusually quiet. There was no music playing in the background, giving all the other usually drowned out noise an almost echo-y feeling.  
No animatronics were on stage.  
Mike wondered if he should bust out the cameras in the security office to try and make sure they were close by.  
Oh, what's this? A hint of motivation? Amazing.  
Softly he waved at his friend, who was sitting in the distance, seemingly explaining something to the exhausted looking Jeremy, before making his way over towards the office.  
It was the first thing he had been wanting to do out of his own volition and he would not let that go to waste.  
Slowly he crept into the place, noticing that it was thankfully abandoned at the moment.  
There was a god, it seemed.  
When the system had booted up he lazily switched around, checking onto every room in hopes of finding out where the people were hiding.  
The main stages were abandoned, but quickly he managed to find out where the people were hiding. Foxy was sleeping in the supply closet, squishing all the boxes under its heavy, metallic body. Baby was behind the curtains, watching Simon and Jerry, seemingly thinking she was invisible in her place. Jokes on you! No sins are hidden in this place. Someone is always watching. Freddy was apparently playing with Bonbon. At least Bonbon wasn't on his hand and he LOOKED rather amused as he searched around. Ballora's cameras were deactivated, but her music played and since she could be heard humming from time to time, Mike just boldly assumed she was in there and well-entertained.  
Finally, his camera spotted the two colorful buddies sitting next to each other on the edge of... somewhere?  
The angle made it rather hard to see in which room they were and on some days Mike was CERTAIN the place was actually growing and creating new rooms he hadn't seen before.  
Doors popping up in strange places, making him question if he just walked down the wrong corridor or the place actually GREW these new places.  
Seemingly they were talking, but the camera was glitching out a tad too much to tell what exactly they were speaking off. It didn't appear angry, or even stressed, but it wasn't happy either.  
... usually it was incredibly entertaining to watch Old Sport go doing whatever, as you could never know what he would break out like the next time- he wasn't one to sit still for all too long.  
But now it looked like...  
... nothing much would happen.  
For a moment longer Mike stared at them, deciding he might as well keep an eye on them as their biggest current threat.  
Not like anything else called for his attention.  
After what felt like an eternity, Old Sport seemed to say something to Dave and stood up to leave.  
Realizing how tense he had been, Mike took a breath and stood up too, deciding to follow the man. Either he was doing something illegal and dangerous, worth to be stopped, or... Mike would have the chance to ask him to do something like that, so he wouldn't have to bear this incredible dull tension anymore.  
Quickly he checked on the cameras again to figure out where he would go, following his path through the screens, until Old Sport finally left through the employee's only door towards the outside.  
Freddy's always had only two exits it seemed.  
That was pretty dangerous, wasn't it?  
Then again, compared to everything else, it was probably one of the safer decisions Fazbender Entertainment had ever made.  
Mike shut down in the computer and made his way towards the exit.  
Meanwhile, Old Sport had gotten outside and already comfortable, pulling out a package of cigarettes he had bought from Matt.  
If he didn't want to spend the next twelve hours pissing or rolling around on the floor in vague hopes of finding SOMETHING interesting, then he would have to waste some time here.  
Hopefully Phoney would leave him alone- after all, there were no toddlers he could badly influence at the moment.  
He leaned at the wall, taking a deep breath as his lungs filled with smoke. Quietly he stared into the gray sky, wondering about nothing in particular. Just a general sense of contemplation had taken ahold of him.  
No snow it seemed. Well, on one hand that was convenient for the people that wanted to light up some fireworks, on the other hand it made the place look twice as depressing.  
Hearing the door open and close again, he glanced over, to his surprise seeing Nemo of all people joining him, raising an eyebrow. “Huh, I took you more of the cocaine type.”  
“Usually I am. But we don´t have an infinitive supply of coke laying around here, do we?” He chuckled, feeling tired and exhausted. “Plus I always do fun things on it and Phoney doesn´t like me having fun. Want one?”  
“Eh. They taste and smell disgusting. Also, they don´t really do it for me anymore." Nemo shrugged, his eyes wandering along the street, before he shortly frowned and retuned his attention to the Orange Guy.  
“For me neither, but it it´s better than nothing. Though if we share the problem, feel like trying out something stronger?” His grin was sincere and the teen chuckled.  
“If I still would be living with my parents I sure as shit would say yes, but… eh. Isn´t really worth it anymore.”  
“Shit home?”  
“Doesn´t even START to describe the situation.” A long sighed followed as the kid suddenly snatched his cigarettes and put one on. Not to smoke it, but to watch it burn it instead. Well, Orange Guy wouldn't call it a waste, if it managed to calm the kid down this way. “But I´m not really about to share my life story with some old creep.”  
“I´m not old!” The guy protested. “Wouldn´t even want to know it anyways, I´m not about to play your dad.”  
“Oh FUCK you ain´t going to play that piece of shit.”  
“Boy, if you don´t want people to ask you, you better stop alluring to it, will you? Because you´re begging for attention with that.”  
“You wouldn´t understand. Not like you´d care anyways.” There was a hint over overplayed drama in his voice- probably on purpose?  
Deciding that he didn´t feel like digging deeper Old Sport just returned to watch the sky. A swarm of birds flew by way up ahead. "But it's probably pretty bad when you spend New Year's Eve AND Christmas here."  
Shortly Nemo looked surprised, almost caught, but he kept quiet.  
"I've seen you lurking around in the back. Tried pretty hard to not get any attention, didn't you?"  
Again the door opened in the back, this time it WAS Mike.  
He stopped as soon as he saw the man had company, but unfreezed rather quickly. "What are YOU doing here?"  
"The same thing you do? Avoiding work and hiding from the stench of dead hope in there?" As always, the teen sounded as if Mike was stupid for asking his question.  
"Stop lurking." This was said with a low growl from Mike's side, as he had no time for his co-worker's attitude. Deep down he was happy though to finally have some sort of punching bag.  
“Mfw, I go to work like a normal human being and get told to stop lurking.”  
“M f w?” Irritated Mike tried to figure out what it meant. “Motherfucking what?”  
“Close, but no cigar.” It resulted in the teen snorting, before inspecting the older guy. “Why are you asking ME though what I’m doing here? You’re the one who could stay home and I dunno… GET yourself a family? Do your hobbies? Whatever? You’re a grown ass man, get a life.”  
“Shut the fuck up.” An even lower growl accompanied this.  
“What an awesome argument, but for SOME reason I don’t want to.” Unimpressed Nemo played around with the cigarette he still was holding in his hand, waving a bit of smoke in Mike’s general direction.  
“I want to break your fucking skull right now.” Without missing a beat he reached towards him and simply grabbed the glimmering end of it, putting it out like that. “Put that shit away, your underdeveloped brain can’t handle even more damage.”  
“Ow, hard one!” Snickering he let the now extinguished cigarette fall on the floor. “I worry about my brain as much as you worry about your dick. Then again, I my brain gets more use then your dick… you know what, you’re right, I’m risking too much here."  
“I hate you so fucking much. Why are you even IN this job? WHY ARE YOU HERE!?” Was he freaking out way too much? Yes, yes he was. But it felt GOOD.  
“For the money? Why are YOU here? Is there any OTHER reason to be here?” The kid shot back, his visible eye slimming a bit.  
Old Sport in the back simply crunched popcorn that he had taken out from… somewhere… hopefully not his pockets… and leaned back, to enjoy his little show.  
Sadly, that got Mike’s attention towards him now. “What about YOU, fuckhead? You don’t even get paid!”  
“I’m in it for the banter-!”  
Well, he said that in a jolly tone, but suddenly a loud noise interrupted Mike’s ability to listen- some sort of ear ripping beeping drowned out everything else and forced him to step back and press his hands on his ears, frantically trying to escape the pain.  
When it stopped, he opened his eyes again he had pressed shut completely automatically and looked at the mildly worried faces around him.  
Old Sport started, frowning confused and actually a tad bothered. “Whenever I say I did it for the banter, SOMEONE freaks out. Gosh, what IS it with you people? Or is it just because you hang around Phoney so much?”  
Equally as confused Mike reciprocated the look. “What the fuck are you even talking about- I take you didn’t hear that shit?”  
“Obviously not, seeing as you’re the only one freaking out here. Geez, I thought you were about to speak in tongues, but you’re probably not cool enough to get possessed.” Nemo snickered.  
“As if you even have SEEN a possession happening, you angsty teen.” The kid was getting too much for him right now. HE WAS THE EXPERT ON FUCKING GHOST HERE. HE DEALT WITH THEM ONE ON ONE FOR FUCK’S SAKE!  
“Oh, I can speak to ghost!” His grin grew even wider as he saw how badly he angered the other guy.  
Thankfully Old Sport barged in. “Everybody at Freddy’s can, get over yourself.”  
With a pained sigh Mike calmed down, shaking his head still disapproving, but feeling a bit better. Already he felt like his old self was coming back a bit. “Fucking idiot, let him believe whatever. I actually appreciate the pain his stupidity brings me. These last month have drained my fucking soul.”  
“Wouldn’t know how that feels!” Old Sport answered, with a small smile. “But I agree, it’s just been… deader than usually. I guess you HAVE to be dead inside or outside to work here, but lately it’s just been excessive.”  
The angsty teen scoffed. “Who’s fault is that, huh? You’re the guys being all gloomy.”  
“No shit, Sherlock. But what can we fucking do about that?” Annoyed he responded, not expecting the kid to actually have any sort of solution…  
“Well, what even IS the problem with you guys? Nobody is talking to each other anymore!” The way he said these words sounded almost like he took it as a personal offense.  
“Shit happened, okay? And we can’t just act like it didn’t.” Grinding his teeth, Mike forced that out.  
“Why not?”  
The response was so nonsensical that for a minute Mike was certain that actually Old Sport had been the one saying that, imitating the teen’s voice. “What do you MEAN why not?”  
“Why can’t you just pretend it never happened?” The stare he gave was completely serious. “All you gotta do is to not act with that in mind anymore.”  
“What about the others- they would never-“  
“Okay, how about you pretend you have amnesia? Both of you, actually?” Stepping back Nemo looked at them expectantly.  
Absolute silence.  
There actually WAS no good reason not to.  
Slowly the Orange Guy and Mike looked at each other, then finally a familiar grin took place on the face of said Orange Guy. “You know what? I’m down for that. Let’s make them squirm for a bit.”  
Still hesitant, Mike looked aside. “That will probably scare the shit out of Simon.”  
“And you think not out of Dave? They’re going to survive! And it’s a nice shake up! Play along Mike! Or don’t and I’ll do it myself!” His tone was playful and thankfully he wasn’t talking about anything too bad, so…  
“Alright… for a day, I guess.” A bit grumpy he agreed.  
Nemo smiled, clapping his hands. “Great. You two- lay down or something. I get the others and then you can start the play!”  
“In the dirt?” But despite his complaints, Mike followed the instruction. The angsty teen disappeared in the door, leaving them to wait. “… He better not just letting us lay here like idiots. If the guy doesn’t come back, I will feed him to Freddy myself.”  
Thankfully, there would be no need to!  
Loyally Nemo rushed right into the main hall, where conveniently all of the Guards were standing together, talking to each other- seemingly about Baby, who casually sat at the side of the stage, letting her legs dangle.  
Though, it could not have been TOO important, seeing as the running teen instantly got all of their attention.  
"YOU GUYS GOTTA GET OUT HERE, MIKE AND ORANGE FUCKING DIED- THEY JUST FELL OVER, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED!" Sounding properly terrified and out of breath due to the sudden sprint and a bit of theatrical talent, Nemo leaned onto a chair, waiting to see if his lie would be believed-  
Oh yep.  
Simon jumped up, in utter shock. "MIKE- WHAT?"  
Dave didn't even bother reacting, but was merely a purple bolt past McNobodyWillEverUnderstandMe and was outside a minute before the others.  
Without waiting a second he picked up Old Sport and carried him inside, not caring what the others were doing.  
Since there was no place to lay him down properly, Dave carefully placed him on a table, refusing to let him go and leaned over him, trying to find some sort of response in his face. "... Old Sport... hey... can you hear me...?"  
At this point Simon had entered too, making another distressed noise, as he placed Mike on a chair instead.  
He also tried to shake him and wake him up, softly patting against his cheek. "Mike? Mike, you can't- you CAN'T-"  
"Stop fucking touching me." Oh.  
Well, Mike never had been the best actor.  
Angry he stared at his friend, before several more emotion mixed under that.  
"Th- thank god! Mike, w-what happened? Are you alright? Why were you-" Phoney started, but was roughly interrupted.  
"Not to sound rude- actually, I don't care- Who the living fuck are you?" Nervously his glance wandered to Old Sport.  
What the fuck was he supposed to act like?  
How do people without memory act like?  
Damn it, why even try, it's not like they could do anything about this, right.  
Simon looked pale, or at least to Mike, despite the fact that Simon's face wasn't there. "M-Mike, stop that! This i-isn't funny!"  
"How do you know my name?" Snarky he replied, crossing his arms.  
"Wh- What do you MEAN how?! You're my- you're my co-worker!"  
At first there was only a raised eyebrow, but then a sudden smirk was across his face. "JUST your co-worker?"  
Freezing up Simon looked at him, baffled. "W-what?"  
The guy leaned his head from side to side, the smirk growing into more of a grin, as he radiated some true asshole energy, akin to the one usually reserved to cats. "Just a shot in the dark, you know... but you seem a BIT worked up for just a guy working with me."  
"M-Mike, you're f-fricking with me, I-"  
"Oh, I'm FUCKING with you? Well, that explains your reaction then." The little shit was grinning widely, finally being into this whole play pretend.  
Especially when Simon was so flustered. "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, MIKE, YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"  
"Can't do what?" Stretching himself fully, Mike snickered. "What's the problem, Simon?"  
"S-SEE!? YOU KNOW MY NAME! MIKE HECKING SCHMIDT-" There were a few beeps coming out of the heating up phone.  
"Uh." Shortly he paused. "Well. You look like a Simon to me! Don't know where that fucking association comes from."  
Old Sport coughed and blinked, seeing as Mike probably needed a bit of help. Dave was only an inch away from him.  
Buddy boy.  
"Sportsy? Are ya alright? Did ya lose your memory too?" There was not that much panic in Dave's voice, either he also didn't believe this scene, or he just wasn't too worried about his partner's memory.  
"Too? What- okay, okay- from the beginning-" Old Sport sat up on the table, looking around the restaurant. Everybody's eyes were on him now and Simon moved closer, his body shaking with rage.  
"Y-you're BOTH in on this?!"  
"In on what?" To be frank, Simon's reasonless stress was pretty amusing.  
"You know w-what?! I play your game- what DO you remember?!" This question came from Simon, but Dave leaned a bit closer at that, his whole attention on Old Sport.  
"I remember..." Old Sport considered his options. "... I remember... working... at a small Fredbear's..."  
Dave whined at that and confused people shortly glanced at him. "Fredbear's had been closed for a fuckin' while now, sorry to tell ya..."  
"What? Closed? Why?" Playing shocked, he jumped up to stand with the others, but tumbled and leaned against the table once more.  
"Because... well..." Dave shook his head. "Didn't know you ever worked there, Sportsy..."  
"... can't say I recognize you either?" With a soft smile the Orange Guy looked at him.  
"Oh, that's easy, I'm your husband!" The response was said with a wide, glowing grin.  
Great, he should have known Dave would pull something like this. "Ah...?"  
Mike in the back snickered, enjoying seeing his frenemy struggle to this degree.  
But Old Sport wouldn't give up all that easily. "Then... why don't we wear matching rings? Or any rings for that matter?"  
"Not supposed to, because, ya know, could get stolen or stuck on somethin'. We have them at home!" There was such an earnest tone in his voice that Old Sport started to believe that Dave DID have a pair of rings hidden away.  
"We do?!"  
"Of course we do!" Smiling Dave petted his hair. "Told ya, we're married! Did ya thought I was lyin'?"  
"I would never..." He got what he deserved for lying it seemed.  
Thankfully Jeremy now stepped towards him too. "Dave, don't- d-don't lie to him. You aren't married-"  
"VERY FUNNY, JERRY, AIN'T YOU A KIDSTER!" His expression threatened him with disembowelment.  
The kid stomped down with his feet, surprising both of them. "STOP. OKAY? THIS IS NOT FUNNY." He hugged himself, his misery radiating from him to a point that actually Marion climbed out of his back, softly massaging his shoulders.  
"Jeremy? What is going on?" The ghostly animatronic protectively moved between him and the other people in the room.  
"Old Sport hurt his head and now doesn't know who he is anymore and Dave thinks it's funny to tell him lies- we have to help him return his memories, not telling him conflicting- n-nonsense!"  
After this rant Old Sport was the first to talk again. "J- Jeez, are you alright, kid?"  
"No... I feel sad... I- Old Sport, you're my friend- and lately all is just... going wrong..." Despite having no eyes, he looked close to crying.  
Both undead creatures looked at each other, before rushing to comfort the boy. "Oh, come on, I just have a little memory issue, don't worry! It's going to be fixed up in no time- how- how about you tell me about all the things I've seemingly forgotten about and I- I will probably remember everything super quick!"  
Sniffing Jeremy looked at Mike. "A-and what about him?"  
"Oh, he- you know, I think Simon is the best man for taking care of his memory issue." Softly the Orange Guy grabbed his wrists and took him away, Dave still looking murderous, but staying well-behaved at their side- especially with the Puppet watching.  
Simon watched them walk off, before turning back towards his friend, who somewhat friendly tilted his head as he looked at him.  
"So, what do we two beauties now do here all on our own?" There was no telling if he said that sarcastically or meant flirtatious. In either case, the Phone Guy wasn't pleased.  
"We two? We two have a nice, long explaining session in front of us, where you'll explain me what the HECK has gotten over you! This- this, uh, isn't funny, especially not now!"  
"Why "especially not now"? What is happening so horrible that you can't take me fucking around?" The annoyed groan this resulted in made Mike smile even more.  
"W-What do you mean WHAT happened- Mike, I know you remember, you're doing a- a, uh- horrible job at pretending to not be!" Irritated Phone Guy stared at him. "We need to-"  
"Yes?" Interested he leaned closer, he didn't know Phoney had hidden some sort of plan from him before.  
"I- We should- well-" Wrong alarm, he actually had no idea. "We should not be doing THIS, Mike!"  
"Okay, fine, then let's do something fucking else, if you're this bothered." He stood up and without warning he picked up Simon by the hips, putting him over his shoulder, resulting in a shocked shriek.  
"MIIIIIIIIIKE-!? WHAT- MIKE, YOU-"  
The laughter he heard cut him off. "I wanted to see if I can carry you! And I was fucking right, you're a fucking TWIG!"  
He spun around with his co-worker, who desperately tried to keep ahold of him. "I- I, uh- I demand you to stop!"  
"What are you going to do if I don't?"  
"Y-you'll be getting a- uh- shift with Dave!"  
"Oh, I am SO scared. Fucking- can't take it. LITERALLY SHAKING!" Grinning Mike put him finally down. "I don't even know what would be so bad about that, because I lost my fucking memories!"  
"You didn't. Please Mike. Please, this is just..." Exhausted Simon fell back and sat down.  
"..." Usually he wouldn't know what to do, not daring to act out, but now he had a somewhat valid excuse. So he leaned in and hugged him.  
Quietly Simon hugged him back tightly. "Mike, I have just... no idea what to do."  
"That's okay. Fuck. Most of the time, nobody does. Maybe just fucking... sit back? Take a break? As long as nobody's on fire?"  
"Says the guy who breaks out screaming whenever someone asks him if he had seen the pink fox." A quiet snort followed those words.  
"... I HAVE NO MEMORIES OF ANYTHING REGARDING ANY FOXES, BUT IF I HAD THEM, I WOULD TELL YOU THAT I'M TRAUMATIZED FROM WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO DO WITH IT." It wasn't directly screamed, but said with a LOT of conviction.  
"... well, you yourself did some questionable things to that fox." Simon was finally ready to fight back.  
"No I didn't."  
"How would you know?"  
"Because I AM myself and know what I would do!" The man was NOT willing to sacrifice his good name.  
"Okay, fine, what WOULD you do? How about..." Simon made a hum and thought back of the things Mike ever did. "... playing a sunshine princess for a bunch of kids?"  
"I will break your kneecaps and devour them afterwards." That memory was seemingly not appreciated.  
"What about sipping bleach and then hiding in the office under the table to hide it actually DOES hurt, but you're too "badass" to admit it?" He had been let go at this point and used his newfound freedom to stand up and corner him.  
"Oh, but you- you LOOK LIKE A MAN THAT WOULD cry over having a paper being ripped a bit." Quickly he shot back, standing his ground now.  
"IT WAS AN IMPORTANT PAPER! I CARRIED IT THROUGH THE RAIN AND WIND WITHOUT A SCRATCH AND THEN YOU COME UP AND ASK TO LOOK AT IT AND THEN YOU- GAH! I'M STILL MAD!" He wasn't as mad as his words were trying to convey.  
"You're-" cute when you're pouting, was what almost came out of his mouth, but he swallowed it before it came out, growing red.  
Confused Simon noticed that and came a bit closer again. "What was that?"  
"You're- you're a fucking idiot, you know that?" It didn't come out quite right.  
"Did you just stutter? That's usually my job!" There was a soft laugh and again he proceeded to step closer, forcing the other man backwards.  
"Must have- f-fucking imagined that!"  
"What were you going to say, really now?" Oh, he didn't REALLY care that much about it, but he enjoyed having Mike this flustered.  
"What did you think, huh? Stop getting off on seeing me like this. Are you SURE we aren't fucking?" Trying to go in for the kill, he was convinced that Simon would back off after that.  
Sadly he was wrong. "You know yourself and what is possible, so... is that implying you WOULD?"  
For that he got an honest of god shriek from the other guy.  
This was a lose-lose for Mike, no matter how he answered- "W-Well, how the fuck would I know?! I mean- yeah, sure, I fucking know myself, but- the way you- the way you act towards me is just- it's not my fault you ACT like that is the case!"  
Finally Simon backed off. "Alright, alright, buddy, I'm sorry. I, uh... I just wanted to be, uh... a bit of a mean guy."  
"Sometimes I hate you, I really do." Groaning Mike orientated as to where he currently was standing and headed to the nearest chair, staring him down. "You really WANT me to- to think that way, huh?"  
Simon coughed, now also embarrassed. "You, uh- you should better leave it here, otherwise we'll- I'll shoot back again and we'll be d-discussing this all night."  
Suddenly a sting of boldness rushed through Mike's veins. "It's not like you have anything better to do. But you know what, I'll fucking one up you- give me a kiss, let's see if I remember the truth then!"  
Oh, he got the sentence OUT with seeming confident, but as soon as he finished, his face grew twice as red and he wanted nothing more than to take it back...  
... but that wasn't his style.  
Both of them were flustered beyond believe now and quiet... so at least Mike won here?"  
WAIT  
NO  
Simon wasn't ready to back down yet. "... never, uh-, never had a New Year's kiss before..."  
Dear lord, Mike would fall over in a minute. "I- I will go and look at those... others. That I don't know. To make sure they don't fucking... do things."  
With that he scuttled away under Phoney's watchful rotary.  
In the further part of the restaurant Old Sport and Dave were intensely staring at each other.  
"I swear to ya, if ya do this, you will be reminded of me in no time!" Enthusiastic Dave grinned, as he looked at Old Sport, who was more or less covered in confetti, provided by the hysterically laughing Funtime Freddy.  
"I don't think this actually has to do with anything we ever did together." The Orange Guy was wearing the Fredbear head and standing on a chair, in front of a big bouncy ball. "Why do you think me running on a rubber ball while wearing my mask would give me back my memory?"  
"It won't, but it sure as shit gonna be a ton of fun!" Happy Dave stepped back to give him the space he would need to balance on the ball for more than a second. "C'mon, Sportsy, do it for ya lover!"  
Jerry yelped. "Don't manipulate him like that! If you know it won't help, then don't tell him to do it..."  
"You know Dave, I don't really trust you here." Carefully he stepped off the chair. "I'm not feeling it."  
Worried Dave stretched his neck out towards his orange companion. "Well... ya wanna see me do it? I could prove it to ya, it's fun!"  
"Hm..." The offer was tempting, but as he took off the costume head, he wanted to come up with something more appealing. "... sure, it would be fun to see it, but how about... how about you rugby tackle Funtime Freddy instead?"  
"You wanna see me wrestle the bear to quench ya bloodthirst? Right on it!" The Purple Guy seemed excited, but Funtime Freddy was hurt... as hurt as he could be, I suppose.  
"D-Daaad! Why w-would you- you- you wan--n-t to h-urt me?! B-BON-bon! A-ArE they s-serious?!" Shocked he looked at his little companion, who seemed actually somewhat surprised.  
"Oh, they don't mean it! They're just being funny people! They wouldn't try to attack us!" The small bunny looked pleadingly over to the Orange Guy, who smiled a bit.  
"You're right bunny! It was a joke, actually I wanted..." His grin grew a bit wider. "... I want you to hug Mike and the Phone Guy. You looked like you don't really like them, so... I'd like to see that fixed."  
Insulted Dave scooted back, hissing. "Are ya kiddin' me, Old Sport? Those two are dicks! They almost fuckin' killed both of us!"  
"Did they? Can't seem to remember..." He chuckled. "I thought you'd do anything to help me get my memory back?"  
"That's fuckin' blackmailin'!" The Purple Man exclaimed, seemingly actually worked up. "Ya don't understand our situation here!"  
"That's true. But I still want you to do it. Come one, for New Year and for your so-called "Lover" you can swallow your pride!" Poking him a bit jokingly, Old Sport wondered if he would back out.  
Funtime Freddy agreed. "H-HUGS?! N-New Year H-HUGS!? Those are- are AWESOME! I- I CAN g-Go Huuuug w-with you! Me and B-BON-BON LooOOOOoVE hugs!"  
"I don't wanna give out hugs!" Unhappy Dave crossed his arms. "At least not to those two!"  
"Then you don't love me enough it seems!" Playing insulted and hurt, he turned away.  
"I- Sport- ya know what?" Ooooh, he was pissed now. "Imma do it, but ya owe me big time for that one. Phoney will kill me and you'll be regrettin' this day!"  
"If you get attacked, maybe THAT reminds me!"  
"Don't act really forgetful at the moment here, Sportsy." Grumbling the humanoid Eggplant stood up and made his way towards the main hall, where he last had seen the other two, running into Mike on the way and just without warning or comment grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.  
Naturally, Mike instantly proceeded to fight him off. "DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FUCKING PSYCHO!"  
"HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW I'M A PSYCHO?"  
"JUST FUCKING LOOK AT YOU!"  
They ended up wrestling on the floor, only interrupted when Freddy's heavy footsteps rushed over.  
"G-GROUP HUUUUUUG!" A giant metal machine jumped onto them, both of the BARELY managing to dodge it, as the loud crashing rang through the whole building.  
This attracted Simon. "Mike?! What, uh- what happened?! Gosh DARN, I can't leave you for- uh- for five minutes!"  
Bolting up, Dave saw his chance and rubgy tackled Phoney, to put him into a headlock that may or may not could be misunderstood for a hug. "HERE PHONEY I AM HUGGING YOU BECAUSE WE'RE SO GOOD FUCKIN' FRIENDS!"  
"L-let me go! What- what's happening!?" Helpless the Phoney squirmed around.  
"I AM SHOWING YOU ALL MY FUCKIN' AFFECTION, BUDDY. WE SHOULD BE GREAT FRIENDS FOR THE NEW YEAR-!"  
"I GET THE FIREWORKS, JUST P-PLEASE LET ME GO-"  
Old Sport had laughed loudly, but at that he tried to pause with his snickers. "We have fireworks?!"  
"YA REMEMBER ME YET OR DO I NEED TO CUDDLE 'EM MORE?" Dave tightened his grip, making the poor man choke.  
Softly Orange Guy snickered. "OH- MY MEMORIES! THEY HAVE RETURNED! Let him go, I want to hear about the fireworks!"  
"Me too." Mike had rushed up and hissed as he saw the Purple Guy letting Phoney go. Maybe he was a bit disappointed about not being able to crush Dave's skull with good reason.  
Being finally free, Simon scrambled up and looked rather peeved. "U-uh... I got some... so we could at least SOMEWHAT celebrate..."  
The small guard in the back spoke up again, after having stepped back from the whole situation for a while. "That's- that's good! I brought some snacks too, since... I wasn't sure if you would want to make something fresh or even- use the kitchen... so... m-muffins anyone?"  
The Guards looked at each other and nodded, prompting Jerry to get out a box and handing all of them some. A soft smile sneaked onto his face. "Do we want to go out then, to- watch the sky...?"  
"Is it, uh- already so late?" Surprised Phoney checked the time to realize, apparently YES, it was so late already. "I swear to god, something is eating our time..."  
"Hey." Mike barged in. "Where the fuck did the teen disappear to, actually?"  
Nobody could say it, but Old Sport shrugged it off. "He probably is glad he got rid of us all and can nap somewhere in the back. I used to do that a lot too. Let's not worry about it, come on people!"  
He dragged them out and they got in position- the animatronics actually quietly followed them out, waiting for the show.  
All of them were standing together and enjoying the silence.  
For this year, there were no big resolutions, no plans... not even a marshmallow roasting...  
... but that was okay.  
They knew what they hoped for.  
Again, they had survived one more year together, not unscarred, but they still were themselves and they still could go on.  
That was something to celebrate in itself.  
The air was cold and they stood close together to negate the chills from the blowing wind.  
None of them was sure how long they waited, but finally, the first fireworks were audible and then proceeded to explode in the sky. Quickly, more followed, a lot more and from the distance to the main part of the city they actually had the best view, with no high buildings obscuring it.  
The colorful lights lit up the faces of the watchers and each of them was enchanted in their own way.  
In the middle of the spectacle, while the most fireworks went off and were exploding, Simon grabbed Mike and pressed his rotary against his lips.  
It was incredibly odd, cold against warm, flesh against smooth acrylic glass, but it made Mike's heartrate shot up by a thousand and when he was let go, he stumbled back.  
"A-ah?" That was all he could get out in that second and probably the rest of the night, as his whole brain decided to buzz and do nothing else besides that. "A- I- W-"  
For a moment Simon looked at him softly, something he could feel, despite there being no eyes-  
"D-Do you, uh- do- I-" Phoney giggled hysterical. "R-Remember me now...?"  
"... I- I- swear to- You know- that- I-" Thankfully the darkness slightly covered up the deep shade of red, but every exploding light exposed him again and again. "Y-yeah."  
That was the most he managed to get out, before quieting down.  
When Simon looked away and at the sky again, he felt his hand being taken.  
And he smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEARS!  
> ENJOY! YOUR! NEW! START!  
> OH, I ALMOST FORGOT, HOW COULD I-  
> FANART!  
> THE WONDERFUL MOON CREATED THIS!  
> I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!  
> https://ora-lite.tumblr.com/post/181563371655/i-dont-rlly-know-why-i-made-this-haha


End file.
